NASHVILLE — The Trinity Lutheran girls basketball team talked a lot about having toughness the past two days.

On Tuesday, the Cougars had a tough loss at Lanesville. Head coach Mike Lang worked the team hard on Wednesday, they practiced really well on Thursday, and on Friday night, Trinity got tested at Brown County, but the Cougars responded with a solid 52-48 road victory.

“That was a strong team,” Lang said. “It was a game that we needed to play on the road against a strong opponent and figuring out how to close it out.”

It was a slow start for both teams in the game. Jordan Brewer got the Cougars on the board first with two free throws before Madison Keith and Bailey Tabeling both made shots to make it 6-0.

Brown County made a surge late in the opening quarter to take a 9-8 lead before Tabeling hit her first 3-pointer to hand the Cougars an 11-9 lead after the first eight minutes.

Both teams scored more in the second period but the difference between them remained the same as Trinity held a 27-25 lead at halftime, with Tabeling scoring 17 of those points, including two more triples.

Brown County traded Trinity basket for basket in the third period. Madison Keith had a big quarter for the Cougars, scoring five points, and Lang thought the pick-and-roll she had going with Tabeling was key.

“The pick-and-roll with Bailey and Madison was one of the biggest plays of the game,” Lang said.

The Eagles drilled a 3-pointer with five seconds on the clock to take a 40-38 lead heading into the final frame.

Laura Roeder opened the fourth quarter with her first points of the night, and it was a big 3-pointer in the corner to put the Cougars back in front 41-40.

“That was a huge three by Laura,” Lang said. “We were down two, she had the confidence to take it, and she hit it in the flow of the offense.”

Tabeling then came up with a steal, crossed over an Eagle defender and scored on the other end to make it a 3-point lead, and that would be enough to allow Trinity to hold onto the lead to win the game.

“We went down and got a stop and I don’t think we ever looked back,” Lang said. “We were able to grind this game out.”

Tabeling finished with 26 points on the night, giving her 2,026 for her four-year career at Trinity.

Keith scored 14, Brewer had five, Liza Froedge four and Roeder three.

With the win, Trinity is now 15-5 this season and will next play on Thursday at Floyd Central. The Cougars’ tough schedule is intended to make sure the team is battle-tested for the postseason.

“We have to be battle tested come tournament time,” Lang said. “We get three days for Floyd, and this gives us a chance to see what kind of teams we’re going to see at the regional with the toughness. So, that’s what we’re hoping for — win the sectional, and let’s see how far we can get.”