Strong defensive effort sparks Lady Tigers to second victory of season

Saturday, December 19, 2015
Nevada forward Megan Payne drives to the basket as several players tumble to the court. (Photo by Gabe Franklin/Daily Mail)

Nevada's Lady Tigers hosted the Harrisonville Lady Wildcats this past Thursday evening at Wynn gymnasium for a victorious finish of 49-34.

With the win, the Lady Tigers improve to 2-6 overall and 2-4 in the West Central Conference.

The evening started slow with the first points a full two and a half minutes into the first quarter when Nevada's Jansen Miller put two on the board. Harrisonville got into scoring with two from the line at 4:45. Hannah Gibbs put the Wildcats in the lead with a shot from the field with 4:10 left and Lady Tiger Megan Hold countered with a single charity point. Lilly Harold dropped in a big 3-pointer with just a minute left in the first quarter driving Harrinsonville's lead to 7-3. Nevada wrapped up the first quarter scoring when Renee Cox put in two with just eighteen seconds left. Nevada trailed Harrisonville 7-5 going into the second.

Scoring picked up in the second with Katie Riffle putting two on the board just forty seconds in followed quickly by two from Nevada. Alaina Morgan put two in for the tie with 5:40 left. A minute later Kat Ream put in two for the lead. Two trips to the line earned Nevada three points before Leeann Farren put in for two moving the score to 14-11 with the Lady Tigers holding a small lead. Following a timeout at 3:36, the Tigers put up seven points points before Harrisonville's Katie Riffle stopped the run with a pair of charity points. Vivian Hartzler would add one more to finish out the scoring going into the half. Nevada lead 21-14.

After the break, Nevada dominated the third quarter recording 10 points before being stopped by Sarah Buffa with a 3-pointer and 2:40 left. The Lady Wildcats rallied for another seven points closing the gap to 31-26 with forty seconds left. Both teams made a trip to the line in the last thirty seconds of the third, Nevada converting two points and Harrisonville one point. At the end of the third, the score stood at 33-27 with Nevada maintaining the lead.

Elizabeth Gibbs put in two early in the fourth to inch closer to a tie score. The teams traded a pair of points each before the Lady Tigers took off on a 12 point run that was stopped by Mandi Bundt's single point free throw at 1:34. Lady Wildcat Katie Riffle put in two with just a minute left. However, Nevada's Madi Culbertson logged the last point of the game shooting from the line at the forty-one second mark. At the buzzer, Nevada held a commanding lead over Harrisonville, 49-34.

Lady Tigers scoring was led by Megan Payne with nine points. Following Payne was Jansen Miller, Madi Culbertson, and Megan Hold with eight points each. Next up was Renee Cox with six points, followed by Alaina Morgan and Kat Ream with four each. Carsten Warner got on the board with two.

Harrisonville's Katy Riffle totaled twelve points for the evening. Leeann Farren scored five, Vivian Hartzler four, Lilly Harold and Sarah Buffa both left with three. Elizabeth Gibbs, Morgan Bunt, and Hannah Gibbs all went home with two each. Mandi Bundt got on the board for one.

The Lady Tigers have some time off before hosting Butler on January 4th. Both JV and Varsity will play with the beginning tip at 6 p.m.

For The Lady Tigers, Megan Payne scored a team-high nine points while going 3-for4 from the charity stripe, while Miller, Megan Hold, and Culbertson chipped in with eight points apiece.

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