LINDEN — The Lady Longhorns’ bid to pull their record even fell short Monday as a second-half, three-point barrage by Pickens Academy led to a 58-39 MA loss.

Marengo Academy (4-6, 1-3) entered the game with a clear strategy, aiming to limit Pickens post player Callie Minor. The gameplan proved effective in the first half, seeing the Lady Longhorns enter the locker room down 22-21.

“I told them we were doing pretty good, keeping them off the boards,” Marengo Academy head coach Danny Stenz said. “We knew the Minor girl was a good inside presence.”

The second half proved a different story, however, as Pickens emerged from the intermission with a multi-dimensional attack. Aware that the Lady Longhorns were focused on limiting Minor, Pickens turned to a perimeter-oriented offense that softened up the center of the Marengo defense.

“When they changed and started to take shots from the outside, it threw us off our gameplan,” Stenz said. “It’s hard to take away the inside and the outside.”

The attack over the last two periods was led by Lincoln Pearson, who connected on a trifecta of treys in the third quarter before finishing her night with 14 points. That approach enabled Minor to get freed up down low. She ended her evening with a game high 22 points.

A trio of Lady Longhorns tied for the team lead in scoring as senior Anna Edmonds, sophomore Destiny Huckabee and freshman Katie Tucker each finished with 10.