A six-minute scoreless drought in the first half turned Riverland's limited lead into a small setback in an eventual loss for the Lady Blue Devil basketball team Tuesday night at Iowa Lakes Community College in Estherville, Iowa.

Riverland (0-4) had a three-point lead midway through the first half, but the Devils went cold over a span of six minutes and missed out on an opportunity to pick up the first win of the season. Iowa Lakes, no stranger to success, turned the momentum and ran away with a 78-49 non-conference victory.

On paper, the game was not supposed to be as close. Iowa Lakes (6-3) recently defeated Waldorf College in Forest City, Iowa, by 20 points, and both scholarship schools are regulars in regional junior college tournaments. Waldorf routed Riverland 102-50 on Nov. 26.

"This was a team who just beat Waldorf by 20," said Riverland coach Suzy Hebrink. "We knew going in we had a huge battle ahead of us.

"Even with the lopsided score there were some things we did really well. We're making progress."

All eight Blue Devils scored in the game, led by Tanya Jensen's 12. Steph Vollbrecht and Bridget Burzinski each added nine points.

"We're getting something out of everybody who's in there, just not enough," Hebrink said.

Riverland got thumped on the boards and only got to the free-throw line five times.

"This is the toughest pre-conference schedule we've had, so once we hit on regular conference games it should seem like we're playing teams probably a level or two down," Hebrink said.

Riverland starts Minnesota Community College Conference cross-division play this weekend, with Itasca and Central Lakes coming to Austin Friday and Saturday for a pair of women's and men's doubleheaders. The Devils will not play a Southern Division game until January.

Friday's games with Itasca start at 6 and 8 p.m., and Saturday's double-dip opens at 1 p.m.

RIVERLAND -- Jenny Schnaufer 2, Hannah Tvedt 4, Becky Herrmann 3, Shelly Sorenson 4, Katie Berg 6, Tanya Jensen 12, Steph Vollbrecht 9, Bridget Burzinski 9.