The Austin girls basketball team couldn’t overcome the loss of one of it’s top scorers in a 73-48 loss at Mankato East (6-1 overall, 3-0 Big Nine) Tuesday.

The Packers (1-6 overall, 1-3 Big Nine) played the game without forward Babaye Oja, who was out with an illness.

Austin trailed 18-14 early on when the Cougars made their run.

“We had spurts where we didn’t play well,” Austin head coach Gary Peterson said.

Austin 18 30 — 48

East 34 39 — 73

Austin scoring: Jenna Svoboda, 18; Steph Justice, 15; Taylor Lady, 4; Jocelyn Sheehan, 4; Danielle Tschann, 2; Merideth Fritz, 2; Marwa Omot, 2; Gabby Wagner, 1; free throws: 69 percent (11-for-16); rebounds: 38; turnovers: 21