The Westport girls basketball team fell to Case 37-32 in a non-league game at the high school on Wednesday night for their first loss of the season.

“We didn’t take advantage of our opportunities,” said Westport head coach Jen Gargiulo. “We had a lot of missed free throws, a lot of missed layups. Case is a well-coached team."

The 4-1 Wildcats held a 17-12 halftime lead and led by as much as seven, but the Cardinals came out swinging in the second half, closed to 26-24 after three quarters and outscored Westport 13-6 in the final quarter.

“It was an intense high speed game,” said co-captain Meghan Molloy. “Our outside shots just weren’t falling and we need to finish our shots and polish up our offense."

Senior Sarah Perry led Westport in scoring with 10 points. The plucky forward played well on the boards and mustered 7 points in the first half. But scoring was down through out the lineup against the high energy and pressing Cardinals. Guards Korynne Holden and Julia George each scored 5 points. Forwards Meghan Molloy and Skylar Rezendes each netted 4 points. Jenna Egby scored 3 and Tess Silvia added a foul shot.

“It’s five games in. We are still learning our identity,” said Coach Gargiulo. “We play these teams to make us better. We’ll work to improve on our mistakes. We have a long way to go.”

After Case took the lead in the closing minutes, Westport had two chances to tie the score after George sank a big 3-pointer to close the gap to 35-32. The Cardinals missed 4 free throws in a row, giving Westport two possessions to drain another three or make a 3-point play, but the Wildcats couldn’t capitalize.

“We weren’t as composed as we should be, at the end of the game,” said Molloy. “I think that we hustled and played hard. Overall it was a good game.”