The Whitman-Hanson girls basketball team dominated the boards against the Hanover Indians in Hanover on Monday; the committed fewer fouls; hit more free throws, and by a slim margin, committed fewer turnovers to lead to Indians in every major statistical category — except points.

A woeful shooting night doomed the Panthers in a 37-25 loss to Hanover, the third straight for Whitman-Hanson who remain one win shy of clinching a trip to the MIAA tournament.

Only four players scored for the Panthers, who managed just two points in the third quarter and nine in the fourth while turning the ball over 12 times in the second half. Whitman-Hanson’s offensive problems in the second half allowed Hanover to take a nine-point lead into the fourth quarter, which they ran to 12 in the final minute.

The Panthers’ strong defense and rebounding made up for their lack of scoring in the first half. Whitman-Hanson held the Indians to three points in the first quarter while Cassie Chernicki and Mackenzie Hatfield each hit 3-pointers to help the team go up 8-3 after one. Senior forward Brittney Porter was the only Panther to score in the second quarter, netting six to send the two teams into the halftime break tied at 14.

Porter then got the only basket of the third quarter for the Panthers, but 3’s from Chernicki and sophomore Marina Kelly brought the Panthers within five of the Indians in the fourth quarter. However Hanover rallied to push their lead to double digits again with 1:05 to play.

The loss was similar to the Panthers’ 44-30 defeat at the high school on Friday at the hands of the Hingham Harborwomen when poor shooting and high turnovers overshadowed another strong defensive effort.

Trailing Hingham by 17 at halftime, the Panthers held the Harborwomen scoreless in the third quarter and for the first three minutes of the fourth, but were only able to cut the lead to 11 during that stretch.

“We held them down nicely, but we were not smooth with the basketball, we were not crisp with our decisions and that was that,” head coach Jim Daley said. “The girls are working hard, but we don’t execute and we don’t think the game sometimes, and that’s what happens.”

The one bright spot for the Panthers was the return of freshman forward Erin Clifford earlier than expected after spending the last few weeks in a cast due to an arm injury.

“It was a shock,” Daley said. “We didn’t expect to have her back and we really, really needed her. Hopefully she’ll be able to us down the line.”

The Panthers will try to right the ship on the road Friday against the Silver Lake Lakers,