Quick turnaround doesn't faze Lady Tigers

Nevada sophomore Kadee Hughes (right) goes for two during Saturday's game at Lamar. Nevada beat their neighbors to the south, 58-47, giving them two rivalry wins in two days.

LAMAR, Mo. -- Less than 24 hours after Nevada thumped El Dorado Springs on the road, the Lady Tigers were forced to travel south to battle their other geographic rival in Lamar.

In a rare Saturday afternoon game, Nevada used a 16-4 run in the second quarter to springboard them to a 58-47 victory over Lamar.

The win over Lamar gave Nevada a sweep of all its closest opponents, with victories over El Dorado Springs and Fort Scott, Kan., already in the bag.

"What I was pleased about the most is Lamar was able to prepare a day for us," Nevada head coach Brent Bartlett said. "They hadn't played since Thursday. We put out so much physically and emotionally (Friday).

"For the girls to put it back on the line with emotion, I'm proud of them."

Nevada (13-8) got another strong performance from junior guard Amanda Wilson, who had a game-high 16 points. Wilson and her teammates struck big from beyond the 3-point arc, with seven treys. Wilson had two of the shots from downtown. Senior Lisa Pendrak had four 3-pointers to account for her 12 points, despite playing with a taped wrist on her shooting hand.

Sophomore Miranda Maberry led Lamar (6-12) with 13 points, and Kayla Holland had 10.

Long-distance marksmanship kept Nevada in the game early on.

Pendrak started the scoring with her first three, and Kristen Badgley hit one to end the scoring in the first quarter, putting Nevada up 10-6.

After Maberry hit a trey to start the second period, Wilson answered immediately in kind on the other end, and the Lady Tigers led 13-9. That started Nevada's run.

Pendrak followed a Lamar free throw with another three, and Maberry matched her to make the score 16-13. Wilson wanted in on what amounted to a game of horse, dropping a three-point dagger of her own for a six-point lead.

Tori Miller scored a little closer to the basket to put Nevada up 21-13, and Erica Klinksick's layup made it a 10-point game.

Miller scored again and Jordan Webb hit one of two free throw attempts to give Nevada a 26-13 advantage.

Webb scored the team's final four points of the quarter and Nevada went into halftime with a 30-19 lead.

In the second half Pendrak again started the scoring, spotting up for her third bomb to put Nevada up by 14.

After each team exchanged a couple of baskets Lamar made a final run to try and make it a game.

Webb scored to make it 37-23, and Lamar scored eight consecutive points.

With Nevada up 37-31, Lamar head coach Pat Garrett called a timeout.

Nevada came out of the break with Kadee Hughes scoring her first points of the game, ending Lamar's streak.

However, Lamar got a traditional three-point play from Maberry to end the third period, and Nevada's lead was cut to 39-35.

Nevada dug deep in the fourth quarter, as Webb scored to make it 41-35.

Pendrak followed with another three and the Nevada lead was back to nine.

Lamar closed to within four again at 45-41, and Nevada went to their stalling offense with just over three minutes left to play.

It became a free-throw shooting contest from there, and Wilson hit eight out of 10 free throws down the stretch.

Badgley also converted at the line, knocking down five of six, as she joined Wilson and Pendrak in double figures with 10 points. Webb just missed giving Nevada a fourth in that exclusive group by scoring nine.

Bartlett said the team finds a way to raise its intensity level in rivalry games.

"We always look forward to playing El Do and Lamar," Bartlett said. "It's fun to win those rivalries."

Nevada had a scary moment in the second half when Webb went to the floor after aggravating an old injury to her right ankle. Webb went up in the air to try and catch a high pass, and came down awkward on the ankle, sending her to the wooden floor in pain. Nevada is already without two of its top three scorers for the season because of knee injuries.

Webb was able to walk off the court and eventually returned to the game, although with a slight limp.

Bartlett said the injury is a few weeks old and that Webb has been battling to stay on the floor despite the pain.

"A lot of girls couldn't play with that type of ankle injury," Bartlett said. "She's an absolute warrior."

Nevada will be back on the court today when they resume Southwest Conference play against Neosho. The Lady Wildcats took a 57-40 decision in Neosho during the teams' first meeting of the season on Dec. 20. Both teams are 2-2 in conference play going into the second half of the conference season.

The game is scheduled to tip off at 6 p.m. at Wynn Gymnasium.