BEL AIR, Md. - The Fighting Owls found themselves down 18-0 after the first 6:36 of their contest against undefeated ASA on Friday night. But that's when the Harford women's basketball team showed its true colors, fighting back to take the lead in the second half before eventually falling 64-51 at home.

Harford used a 19-7 run to close the first half, behind sharp shooting and an intense defense to trail just 25-19. The Fighting Owls were inspired by head coach Ashley Sammons halftime pep talk and came out blazing hot to tie the score at 29-29 just 3:46 into the second stanza on a pair of free throws by Tiff Smith.

Just moments later, Smith found Aniya Rolle, who's jumper just outside the paint gave Harford its first lead at 31-29. A triple by Rolle gave Harford its biggest lead of the night at 34-31 with 14:08 remaining over an Avegers team who had won all seven of their previous games by an average margin of 55.7 points.

The next five-and-a-half minutes of action saw two ties and nine lead changes, but the Avengers eventually pulled away down the stretch for the victory.

Rolle broke out of her shooting slump in a big way, netting a team-high 22 points, including 5-for-9 from behind the arc. Tiffany Taylor tallied 15 points while handing out five assists in 36 minutes of work. Smith finished with eight points and seven rebounds.

Sarah Knight converted the first basket of her Harford career to give the Fighting Owls a 40-39 advantage. She also finished with a career-best three offensive rebounds.

The Fighting Owls return to action on the road on Tuesday at Prince George's.