It may not have been as convincing of a victory as Salisbury would have liked, but a win is a win.

Led by two of their top returning players in Meagan Eripret and Lindsay Bauer, the Lady Falcons broke a 30-30 tie after the third quarter to edge Dieruff in the final eight minutes of their season opener on Friday at Salisbury High School. Eripret, who scored a game-high 28 points and added 10 rebounds and three blocks, did not miss from the field (5-for-5) in that fourth quarter in leading Salisbury (2-0) to its 48-43 victory. Bauer finished with 14, including eight in the first half.

"Pulling out the win at the end is a little bit of a confidence booster, but it shouldn't have come to that," Eripret said. "I think that it's important that we learn to get ourselves together earlier in the game, so that it doesn't come down to such a nail-biter type situation at the end like a 1-and-1."

"This was probably going to be our most agressive game of the year," Bauer said. "Like I told everyone, we are only going to go up from here. I think we all did way better in the end. We shared the ball, and we made smart decisions. We just have to play as a team, and it will work out."

Much of the credit as to why the Huskies stayed within striking distance all game was due to the hot shooting from guard Lexii Anderson. After a Lady Falcon bucket by Eripret to begin the fourth, Anderson hit one of her five 3-pointers to give Dieruff a 33-32 advantage, their first lead since it was 12-10 after the first quarter.

Anderson, who scored a game-high 20 for Dieruf, nailed her second trey of the fourth quarter (fourth of the second half) to make it a 36-36 game with 6:14 to play. Down 42-38 minutes later, Anderson was fouled on another 3-pointer, awarding her with three from the foul line to make it a one-point game with 1:33 remaining. However, she connected on just one of the three shots, and the Lady Falcons were able to separate themselves with clutch free throw shooting down the stretch.

Eripret tallied 14 of the Lady Falcons' 18 in the fourth, including a perfect 4-of-4 from the free throw line. Kelly Gonoude also hit two critical free throws in the final seconds. As a team, Salisbury made 21 of 28 attempts.

"It's not a secret that getting the ball inside is something we have been doing forever," Eripret said. "But I think this year we have a lot more people who are more confident in shooting outside."

While Anderson did shoot just 5-of-17 from 3-point range, head coach Joe Mladosich made a switch defensively after she hit two early ones in the fourth. Bauer was largely in charge of that duty, and she excelled defensively as Anderson scored just one point over the final four minutes.

"She definitely improved since last year, so we weren't expecting it," Bauer said. "At the end, we started to play her more, [and] I was on her man-to-man. I just had to shut her down.

"We were in a 1-3-1. It was my job and the wing's job to play her. When they would screen me in, the wing would have to get there...Other than the screens, I think I played well on her."

Dieruff raced out to double-up Salisbury at 12-6 late in the first quarter after Anderson hit her first 3-pointer. But over the next 10:44 stretching into halftime, the Lady Falcons outscored the Huskies 13-4 to lead by three at halftime. Bauer and Eripret scored all nine in the second frame for Salisbury.

The Lady Falcons grew their lead to as many as seven points in the third before Anderson rallied the Huskies back to a tie game at the end of three.

"We have to learn how to dictate our own pace," Eripret said. "We let them run the show in the first half. We didn't share the ball like we have been."

A day later, Salisbury improved to 2-0 after downing Blue Mountain, 44-33. Eripret (17), Bauer (12) and Gonoude (10) all finished in double figures.

Results from Tuesday's league contest against Pen Argyl were not available at time of press. The Lady Falcons host Catasauqua Thursday at 7 p.m.