She wasn’t feeling well to begin with, but then what started out as a milestone night for Linn-Mar senior Amanda Ollinger ended up with her on the bench with five fouls and a bloody nose to boot.

What’s worse, her previously undefeated sixth-ranked team gradually squandered an 11-point first half lead and fell at home Tuesday night to ninth-ranked Iowa City High, 60-49.

It’s easy to see where the game was won for the methodical Little Hawks. It was from the free throw line, where they were 25 for 29.

And in the fourth quarter, which started tied at 38-all, they converted all 13 of their attempts to go with just four field goals. The Lions, on the other hand, shot just four free throws all evening.

“I thought we settled for a lot of threes,” said Linn-Mar coach Jaime Brandt, whose girls were nine of 25 from long-distance for the night. “They were in a zone, and most of our shots were coming from the outside.

“They were a lot more aggressive and got it to the rim. And in the second half, especially, I think we were a little too timid.”

Except in the foul department, where the Lions led 21 to nine. The Hawks’last 12 points came from the line.

Needing five points to reach 1,000 during her four-year career at Jefferson and Linn-Mar, Ollinger popped in two long treys within the first two minutes to reach the milestone. The Lions hit five more from long range in the first half as they went up 27-16 before City High whittled the lead to four by halftime.

Little Hawk sophomore Ashley Joens was pretty much a one-woman wrecking crew all night. She made eight straight free throws to finish the half and wound up the night with 25 points, 13 of them from the charity stripe. She also led her team with 11 rebounds.

"She’s a great player,” Brandt said. “She attacks the rim and is awfully hard to stop.”

Ollinger ended up with 16 points, eight in each half, earned the hard way. She was whacked in the nose by Little Hawks senior Courtney Joens midway through the third quarter and left a trail of blood to the bench. That didn’t make her feel any better.

“I’ve been really sick the last couple of days with a severe cold and went to the doctor today,” she said. “I felt pretty good during the game, and it felt awesome to get those first two 3-pointers. I’d been struggling, and that was a nice confidence booster.”

In the end, though, it was the loss that hurt more than the stopped-up head and sore nose.

“I think we got a little flustered by their pressure,” Ollinger said.“They’re an experienced team, and we seemed to hurt ourselves. Mentally, we just weren’t there.”

City High raised its record to 6-1. Linn-Mar fell to 5-1.

IOWA CITY HIGH (60): Schroder 1 0-0 2, Ashley 6 13-14 25, Hanrahan 1 0-0 3, Earl 4 6-7 15, Courtney Joens 2 6-7 11, Gamamou 2 0-1 4, Lacey 0 0-0 0. Totals 16 25-29 60.

LINN-MAR (49): Akers 4 0-0 11, Frese 1 0-0 2, Lancial 1 0-0 3, Finley 4 2-2 12, Ollinger 6 2-2 16, Murphy 1 0-0 3, Spies 1 0-0 2, Larson 0 0-0 0, Johnson 0 0-0 0. Totals 18 4-4 49.

Halftime – Linn-Mar 31, Iowa City High 27. 3-point goals – Iowa City High 3 (Earl 2, Hanrahan 1). Linn-Mar 9 (Akers 3, Ollinger 2, Finley 2, Lancial 1, Murphy 1).