It’s not often that a basketball team wins a game in which it scores only one basket from the field in the second half.

But, that’s exactly what the Seneca girls team did Monday in a 40-35 nonconference win over Serena.

The Irish (5-12) were able to manage to come away with the win thanks to a strong offensive showing in the first half, particularly by Graysen Provance, and put the game away at the free throw line.

Despite recording only one basket in the second half - a bucket by Emma Mino - the Irish went 9 of 14 from the free throw line after halftime to keep the Huskers (8-10) at bay.

Provance, who had a game-high 18 points, went 3 for 6 from behind the 3-point line in the first half and finished with 13 points before intermission as the Irish built a 29-17 halftime lead.

“It was nice to be ahead for pretty much an entire game,” Provance said. “I think this will give us some confidence, especially beating Serena, where coach [Josh Myers] teaches.

“In the second half, I was distributing the ball more. I like to look for the younger girls to get them involved, and I was able to find Tessa Krull underneath a lot. Defensively, we learned what they were doing on their pick and roll and were able to stop it. It’s pretty much the same kind of play we run, so we were able to recognize it.”

Provance’s first 3-pointer of the game gave Seneca a 9-4 lead midway through the first quarter. Serena answered with a three-point play by Parker Twait (6 points, 5 rebounds) and a basket by Anna Hjerpe (team-high 16 points) to tie it at 9. Seneca got a free throw from Kylee Rowley and two by Provance the rest of the quarter to take a 12-9 lead into the second. The Irish were 17 of 28 from the line for the game, compared to 3 of 13 for the Huskers.

Seneca opened the second quarter on a 9-2 spurt, capped by a Provance 3-pointer, to move out to a 21-11 lead. After Serena closed to within 22-15 with 1:17 to play in the first half, Krull (8 points, 8 rebounds) scored on a putback basket, then went 3 of 4 from the foul line for a 29-15 Irish lead before Hjerpe scored just before intermission to make it 29-17.

“We just dug ourselves too big of a hole in the first half,” Serena coach Jim Jobst said. “I am proud of the way the girls fought back in the second half. They never quit and played with a lot of energy. I am good with that.

“We fouled way too much as well. Seneca shot a lot more free throws than we did, and they made a lot more.”

Serena chipped away at the Seneca lead in the third quarter, outscoring the Irish 11-6 to make it 35-28 entering the fourth. The Huskers got to within 39-35 after a 3-pointer by Finley Jobst (5 points) with 1:06 remaining, but didn’t score again. Provance capped the scoring with a free throw with 18 seconds left.

“Free throws were definitely big for us,” Seneca coach Josh Myers said. “We had a little spell in the third quarter where we didn’t play great defense, but we got back to it. Tessa Krull had a good game underneath for us, getting some big rebounds and putback buckets for us.

“Graysen Provance had a nice game. We ran some sets for her in the first half and she knocked some shots down. In the second half, she did a good job of not trying to force up shots and distributing the ball to open players. We’re starting to get healthy. This is the first game that Emma Mino has played, and we’ll get Cam Stecken back soon, too.”