FAYETTEVILLE — The Richmond Lady Raiders followed the script they have used in the previous two meetings with the Seventy-First Lady Falcons.

But this time, the Lady Raiders were unable to overcome a large deficit in a 76-61 loss in the first round of the Mid-Southeastern Conference tournament.

Richmond (13-7, 9-6) had four players who were battling illnesses and another slowed by a foot injury.

Abril Stroman, Shaniqua Flowers and I’tieonna McLaughlin played with their illnesses, while Torrie Ingram was unable to participate in the game. Patrice Legrande had an injured instep.

“We did the best we could under the conditions we were under,” said Richmond coach David Laton. “If we were healthy, I felt we could have gotten this team (Seventy-First) again.”

The Lady Raiders trailed 47-30 at halftime, before storming back in the third quarter. Richmond held Seventy-First scoreless until the 1:25 mark of the period. During that stretch, the Lady Raiders sliced the deficit to 47-42 by forcing the Lady Falcons into 13 turnovers.

However, the Lady Falcons responded with an 8-2 run to close out the quarter to take a 55-44 advantage into the fourth period. Alexis Galbreath scored five points during that time.

“We had proven before we could come back again against Seventy-First,” Laton said. “We made a big run in the third. I had my guards face guard their guards, which made them have to pass the ball at tough angles.

“We were able to create some turnovers, score some baskets and crawl back into the game.”

Richmond was unable to cut the deficit back under double figures the rest of the game, as Seventy-First increased the advantage to as much as 16 at 65-49 halfway through the fourth quarter.

“We’ve got to get our girls well for the playoffs and give it our best shot from there,” Laton said.

Richmond finished the game with 27 turnovers, 19 of those in the first half. The Lady Raiders had 11 in opening quarter.

The Lady Falcons took advantage of the turnovers in the first quarter to race out to a 25-8 lead. Simone Ewers capped a 13-0 run during the quarter with an old-fashion 3-point play.

Legrande scored a team-high 15 points for the Lady Raiders. Shaquitta Covington netted 12 points, while LaShey Brown added 11 in the loss.

Shanice Pringle scored a game-high 16 points for Seventy-First. Ewers chipped in with 14 points for the Lady Falcons.

Seventy-First will take on top seed Westover Thursday in the semifinals.