Continuing with a very tough preseason schedule, the varsity Lady Cougars basketball team lost at home and on the road this past week.

Head coach Joseph Dalpogetti said they opened up with a game at home on Dec. 18, taking on Liberty Ranch from Galt.

“It should have been a good matchup between two top 10 Division 4 teams in early season MaxPreps rankings,” the coach noted. “Unfortunately, we didn’t have a strong showing and got blown out, 69-30. They packed the lane really tight and to say we shot poorly would be an understatement.”

Madi Babasa was the leading scorer with 10 points.

Friday, the girls were on the road, traveling to Pitman in Turlock for the Dec. 20 contest and went with just six players suited up.

“We didn’t have Ari (Velasco) and she’s one of the top guards in the area so we struggled,” Dalpogetti said. “We were also down our sixth man, Jayci Trimble.”

The end result was a 52-40 loss and Babasa accounted for nearly half of the team’s points, putting in 25 on the night.

Holiday week tournament play after Christmas will see the varsity girls go to a four-day event in Tracy, while the JV team will take part in the three-day Ripon Tournament.

“We knew our schedule was tougher than years past, and we graduated arguably the two best players in program history,” Dalpogetti said of losing Sammy Lang and Macie Vickers to graduation. “We are just trying to get better for league and make a push into late February. We are hoping playing these larger schools will prepare us for the post season. Losing isn’t very much fun, but we are learning and getting better.”