The Bobcats (6-1, 3-0) led 42-40 after three quarters, but their advantage grew to six with two minutes remaining. Eisenhower (1-2, 1-1) freshman Camdyn Black drained a deep 3-pointer off the glass to make it 52-49.

With one minute remaining, Knights senior Riley Robinault pulled her team within a point and Eisenhower then forced a turnover before Lainey Font scored underneath to give the hosts a 53-52 lead with 40 seconds remaining.

Seneca’s Hailey Farrell followed with a short jump to give the Bobcats a 54-53 lead with 29 seconds left. The Knights had several opportunities in the closing seconds, but could not get a shot to drop as Seneca gave head coach Steve Carter his 200th career victory.

“Seneca is a very good team. I’m proud of our effort,” Eisenhower head coach DJ Steinberg said. “We are certainly capable of beating them. We have to work on limiting our turnovers and closing out games. Overall, the girls played well, it just didn’t go our way in the end.”

Times Observer photo by Steve Younger Knights head coach DJ Steinberg talks to his team during a timeout.

The Bobcats built a 10-6 in the first quarter, but Font drained the first of her four 3-pointers at the buzzer to pull the Knights within a point.

Eisenhower’s shots began to drop in the second quarter as it built a 31-27 halftime lead. Font drilled a pair of 3-pointers and a pair of free throws. Clara Steinberg and Laney Belcher each chipped in 5 points to pace the Knights in the quarter.

The Knights came out of the locker room with a cold shooting hand and an aggressive Seneca defense that held Eisenhower to just 9 points in the quarter.

Eisenhower is back in action Saturday when it hosts Fort Lebouef in a nonregion game.

SENECA (54)

McLaughlin 1 0 3, Mitchell 0 0 0, Troutman 0 0 0, Primavere 0 0 0, Hammill 8 3 19, Kibbe 4 0 8, Kosiorek 4 1 11, Senger 1 0 2, Jewell 1 0 2, Farrell 3 3 9. Totals 22 7 54.

EISENHOWER (53)

Font 6 2 18, Childs 2 0 4, Belcher 3 5 11, Robinault 1 1 3, Steinberg 5 2 12, Black 2 0 5. Totals 19 10 53.

3-point goals–McLaughlin, Kosiorek 2, Font 4, Black.

Seneca 10 17 15 12 — 54

Eisenhower 9 22 9 13 — 53