Lady Tigers derailed by St. Pius X in season opener as Mussorici stars

Wednesday, November 22, 2017
Charles in charge: Nevada High sophomore forward, Teagan Charles, drives to the basket while being defended by St. Pius’ Alaina Malott, in the first half of Tuesday’s season-opener at Wynn Gymnasium.
Matt Resnick | Daily Mail

In a low-scoring affair Tuesday night at Wynn Gym the Nevada Lady Tigers were unable to overcome late turnovers, dropping their season opener to the St. Pius X Lady Warriors, 41-36.

Nevada (0-1) had its hands full the entire evening with St. Pius X senior Antoinette Mussorici, an ESPN 3-star point guard who helped lead the Lady Warriors to a Class 4 state runner-up finish last season.

With the West Central match-up just underway a Mussorici steal and lay-in put the Lady Warriors on top 2-0. A Mussorici floater in the lane put St. Pius up 8-4 midway though the opening frame.

Guard-play: Lady Warriors point guard Antoinette Mussorici looks to drive to the basket while being defended by Nevada point guard Calli Beshore.
Matt Resnick | Daily Mail

Nevada then trimmed the deficit to 8-7 via Calli Beshore’s 3-pointer from the top of the key. A Lindsay Phebus inside bucket moved Nevada to a 9-8 advantage with 1:01 remaining in the first quarter.

The Lady Tigers then went on a 5-0 run early in the second quarter, courtesy of a Hailee Lundine trey and Payge Dahmer steal and lay-in, as Nevada grabbed a 14-10 lead.

An 11-3 blitz near the midpoint of the second quarter, culminating with Mussorici knocking down 3-of-3 from the charity stripe, put the Lady Warriors back on top, 21-17. Beshore quickly cut it back to a point, drilling a triple from the top of the key, with the Lady Warriors eventually clinging to a 24-23 halftime lead.

Nearly three and a half minutes of game clock elapsed before the first points of the second half were scored. Late in the third an Olivia Ervie steal in the Nevada backcout resulted in a lay-in and trip to the foul line, with Ervie completing the three-point play to give St. Pius its biggest lead of the evening, 33-26.

With 5:01 remaining in regulation Dhamer’s pass from the right wing found Teagan Charles in the low post for a lay-in, capping a 6-0 Lady Tigers run to slice the St. Pius lead to 33-32. The Lady Tigers then took their first lead since the second quarter as Beshore buried a three, giving them a 35-33 edge.

The game’s turning point came on a Nevada turnover with just over three minutes remaining in regulation. Charles fouled Ervie, who scored on the lay-in and completed the three-point play, to put St. Pius up 36-35.

This was Charles’ fifth personal foul, dealing a major blow to the Lady Tigers hopes.

Mussorici salted the game away from the free throw line, sinking 5-of-8 free throws as the Lady Warriors pulled away for the five-point victory.

Mussorici tallied a game-high 16 points, including 10-of-13 from the charity stripe, while Beshore concluded with a team-high 13 points, knocking down three 3-pointers.

Up next

The top-seeded Lady Tigers square off with No. 8 seed McDonald County in the opening-round of the Carl Junction Classic, Monday at 4 p.m.

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