JACKSON TWP — In search of its second section win of the season, the Seneca Valley girls basketball team was done in by a dismal third quarter.

Pine-Richland outscored the Raiders 22-9 in the period and went on to hand SV a 55-49 home loss Monday night.

Seneca Valley tried to climb out of a 40-28 hole at the start of the final period.

Alex Karika scored 10 of her game-high 18 points in the final eight minutes and when senior guard Julia Vandrak hit a 3-pointer with 21 seconds left, the Rams' lead was trimmed to 53-49. But SV had scored its last point.

“Too little, too late,” said Raiders coach Rob Lombardo. “When we're knocking down shots, it changes the whole complexion of the team. But we had most (five) of our (12) turnovers in that third quarter. We have to learn to play with urgency.”

Both teams fought through a sloppy first half, but Karlei Fronzaglio's 3-pointer late in the second quarter gave SV a slim 19-18 lead at the break.

“I thought that would be the catalyst, the emotional spark we needed,” said Lombardo.

Instead, it was the Rams (7-4, 3-1) who opened the third period on a 14-4 run.

The focus of the Rams' offense in the second half became Kara Peters, Rachel Verbanac and Emily Johanson. The trio had scored a combined eight points in the first half, but exploded for 28 points in the final two quarters.

“We just began playing the way we know how to play,” said Pine-Richland coach Molly Copple. “We're a 60-point team, but for some reason, we just weren't with it in the first half.”

A recent injury to sophomore forward Abby Trzeciak has had a negative effect on the Raiders.

“She suffered a concussion in the North Hills game (a 51-40 win Jan. 2),” said Lombardo. “Without her, the girls think they have to settle for outside shots.”

Monday night, the Raiders took 25 shots from beyond the arc, making just four of them.

Seneca Valley misfired on its first 13 3-point attempts of the game before Karika's trifecta with 3:10 left in the first half, cutting the Rams' lead to 16-14.

“That was not part of our game plan, all of those shots from the outside,” said Lombardo.

Brooke Clifford added 11 points to the Raiders' cause.

Johanson (14), Verbanac (12) and Peters (10) all reached double figures in points for the Rams.

Seneca Valley (7-3, 1-3) will travel to rival North Allegheny on Friday.

“We're going back to the drawing board starting with Wednesday's practice,” Lombardo said.

Note: Mary Kate Fullerton, who replaced Trzeciak, left the game in the fourth quarter with an injury to her right leg.

PINE-RICHLAND 55Hannah Todorowski 3 2-2 8, Emily Johanson 6 2-4 14, Brittany Byerly 3 3-7 9, Kara Peters 5 0-0 10, Kati Altman 1 0-0 2, Rachel Verbanac 5 2-2 12, Marisa Hombosky 0 0-0 0.

Totals: 23 9-15 55.

SENECA VALLEY 49Karlei Fronzaglio 1 0-0 3, Alex Karika 6 5-6 18, Julia Vandrak 2 3-4 8, Mary Kate Fullerton 0 1-2 1, Brooke Clifford 4 3-4 11, Amanda Geiger 2 3-3 8, Kaitlyn Eagle 0 0-0 0.

Totals: 15 15-19 49.

Pine-Richland 10 8 22 15—55Seneca Valley 7 12 9 21—493-point goals: Pine-Richland 0; Seneca Valley 4 (Fronzaglio, Karika, Vandrak, Geiger).

Friday: Seneca Valley at North Allegheny