GREENVILLE – Coming off a three-game win streak, the Lady Wave was due for an off day.

Despite leading twice on Saturday’s game against Coldwater, the Greenville girls lost their non-conference bout at 28-36.

“It came down to just a couple buckets. And from where the girls have come, they played hard. That’s all we ask,” Greenville girls basketball coach Kyle Vanover said. “And you know, we just dropped one tonight. I don’t call it a bad loss, I just think we have to get better.”

The day started out promising for the Lady Wave team as they slid into a quick four-point lead right off the bat.

But Coldwater shook off of their sluggish start and put up five in a row to take control of the first quarter.

Greenville stalled offensively, and a last second buzzer shot kept Coldwater ahead 6-7 in what would turn out to be a low scoring game.

“We weren’t focused, mentally. We weren’t in the right state of mind, and it showed tonight,” Vanover said.

The Lady Wave built up a three-point advantage thanks to Megan Galloway in the second quarter, but Coldwater’s Sarah Kanney pushed ahead with a five-point streak to lead at halftime 11-13.

But Greenville wasn’t about to throw in the towel early.

As soon as the third quarter buzzed in, Tara Guillozet popped a quick two for the tie.

“We battled with them. And when we battled back, we played hard the whole game. We knew playing a MAC school, they know how to play defense and how to win,” Vanover said. “It’s a good tune-up for us on Wednesday going back into the GWOC North, and that’s why we have those types of teams on our schedule.”

Coldwater put up a six-point run, and Greenville was outscored by three in the third, notching up the Cavaliers lead to 17-22.

While the Wave struggled to step up its coverage, Megan Galloway was hammered during her possessions.

“Megan got beat up. To me, I don’t know why they can’t call that. We’re going to have to make her start going for the contact. We’ll make them make the call either way,” Vanover said.

The Lady Wave found themselves down by nine with less than four minutes in the game, but Haleigh Luce put up five, Galloway chipped in two, and Guillozet sank in a three pointer for Greenville to come within four points of Coldwater at 28-32.

But it just wasn’t enough, as the Cavaliers retained their composure and put up four points instead of a caving under the pressure, ending the game at 28-36.

While the upset turned a few Greenville heads, it reminded the team of their overall goals.

“Defensively, our goal was not to give up 40, and we gave up only 36. We’ve really been working hard on defense, because I believe defense is going to win the GWOC North. So that’s where our focus has been lately,” Vanover said.

The Lady Wave will play fellow GWOC north team Butler on the 16th.