In a game in which defenses took center stage, visiting Hereford forced Dulaney (0-2) into 28 turnovers and held the Lions to just eight field goals in a 39-26 victory Wednesday night.
Hereford shot only 28 percent (14-for-50), but used a strong defensive first quarter that led to seven Lion turnovers and forced them to miss their first nine shots.
"We wanted to come out hard and make an impact in the beginning and we started our first play with a layup and that's a good way to start it," said senior center Julia McLaughlin, who tapped the opening tip to Alex Gianotti for a layup four seconds into the game.
It started a 7-0 opening run that included a basket by McLaughlin (5 points, 6 rebounds, 4 steals) and three-pointer by Alyssa Gianotti.
Dulaney senior guard Courtney Jantzen (game-high 15 points, 5 steals) broke the ice with two free throws with 1:56 left in the quarter and she made the Lions first field goal with 20 seconds left to cut Hereford's lead to 13-4.
"Any team that comes out and struggles like that and gets in that deep of a hole, it's hard to come out of," Dulaney coach Jess Szymanski said.
Dulaney never could overcome the deficit because they shot only 19 percent from the field (8-for-42).
They trailed 24-12 at halftime, but stayed even in the second half, thanks to strong rebounding and defense.
The Lions (0-2) forced 22 Hereford turnovers overall and outrebounded them, 38-24.
"We did a really, really nice job defensively," Szymanski said.
Kathy Albornoz had a game-high 16 rebounds and three points and Amy Bowden added nine rebounds and eight points, but, along with Jantzen, they were the only Lions that scored.
Meanwhile, Hereford, who graduated nine seniors from last year's 22-2 Baltimore County championship team, got points from seven different players.
Sophomore Nicole Viscuso (10 points) was the lone Bull in double figures, but Alex Gianotti (7), Kendra Herbenar and McLaughlin (5 each) and Alyssa Gianotti, Jordan Packett and Noelle Funk (4 each) also contributed.
Coach Ellen Fitzkee played all 12 Bulls on the roster as she tried to find the right combination.
"What's nice about this team is we have versatile players and that's a good thing, but sometimes it's not a great thing, because they have to play more than one position," Fitzkee said. "I'm trying to get them comfortable where they are natural."
Defense is definitely one of those traits that comes naturally.
"As long as we play hard defense we can keep them from scoring and it allows us to score more on offense," said McLaughlin, who added two blocked shots.
Funk and Lillian Maslen also added blocked shots while Herbenar had four steals and Viscuso pilfered a pair.
In addition to Jantzen's five steals, Albornoz, Bowden and Katie Russo had two steals and Sara Dorl, Corinne Wood and Kelsey Swanson had one each for Dulaney.
"Our defense kept us in the game and I've been preaching to the girls that saying 'Offense sells ticket and defense wins game, but clearly, our offense didn't sell tickets tonight," Szymanski said.