The Fort Lee Lady Bridgemen received a 19-point performance from senior guard Brianna Mattessich, but the team struggled to score otherwise in a 41-33 road loss at the Dumont Lady Knights.

Mattessich scored 14 points in the first half alone, but Fort Lee only had two points from the rest of the team at that point.

“We didn’t have five girls on the floor willing to shoot the ball and looking to score,” said Fort Lee head coach Stacie Zafiris. “That ultimately hurt us.”

The Lady Bridgemen had the scoring edge early when they jumped out to a 12-5 lead. The advantage would have been smaller, but Mattessich was fouled heaving a half-court shot as the first quarter ended. Brianna made two of the three free throws to hand Fort Lee their biggest lead of the game.

“We were flowing,” said Mattessich of her team’s play early on in the game. “We were doing great offensively.”

But then the game teetered to the Lady Knights side in the second quarter as Fort Lee went the entire period without scoring a field goal. During that timeframe, senior forward Sam DeFreese scored nine of her team high 18 points and rallied New Milford back into the game.

“She is an all-around player and a great [one],” Zafiris said. “Personally, I scheduled the game because I wanted my players to match up with her.”

Then after halftime, both DeFreese and Mattessich were held scoreless in the third quarter. Junior forward Anthe Nikolaidis prevented DeFreese from tallying any more points, and New Milford utilized a specialized defense to cut down the play of Mattessich.

“It was very different,” said the senior guard after the game. “I had to work harder to get open and I needed my teammates to help me out. [New Milford] did a real good job on me in the second half.”

The New Milford Lady Knights started the third quarter by scoring five points in a row as Fort Lee was trying to free up some offense.

Eventually, senior forward Bindi Parikh would break the drought with a turnaround jumper, but it was almost 16 minutes of game time that the Lady Bridgemen were held without a field goal.

“They played great defense and denied me very well,” Mattessich said about New Milford’s defense after halftime. “We had to pick it up in the second half.”

Entering the final quarter, Fort Lee trailed by five points, and the Lady Knights continued to try and pull away for good. DeFreese broke out again in the last period for another six points and sophomore guard Victoria Astillero added eight more after halftime in the New Milford win.

“Again they fought hard and I’m proud of their effort,” Zafiris said of her team. “Hopefully these close games will start to go in our favor.”

DeFreese finished with a double-double as the senior had 18 points and 16 rebounds. Parikh came close to a double-double as she recorded nine points and nine rebounds. Mattessich finished with a game-high 19 points and five total rebounds.

“[Brianna] has been doing some things the last couple games that really make her a caliber player in the league and in the county,” Zafiris said. “I wouldn’t trade her for anybody.”

Fort Lee has no more contests scheduled for the weekend, but they will return to game action on Tuesday, when they host Dwight Morrow at 7 p.m.