Lady Tigers tripped up by El Do

Wednesday, February 17, 2016
Nevada Lady Tigers forward Megan Payne goes up for a basket during Tuesday's contest with El Dorado Springs. (Matthew Resnick/Daily Mail)

The Nevada Lady Tigers girls basketball team was dealt a 55-35 defeat by the El Dorado Springs Lady Bulldogs Tuesday night in Wynn Gymnasium.

The non-conference loss drops the Lady Tigers to 8-15 overall.

Nevada's primary concern entering the contest was containing Lady Bulldogs senior guard Kameron Schaaf. That game-plan did not come to fruition as Schaaf erupted for 17 first-half points, single-handedly outscoring Nevada by five.

Both teams opened the first quarter cold from the field. The first points of the night came courtesy of a Schaaf bucket nearly three minutes into the game. Nevada senior forward Megan Payne replied with a basket from deep in the post, knotting the score at two apiece. Nevada took its first lead of the night via a Megan Hold mid-range jumper, as the Lady Tigers led 4-2 with 4:27 to play in the first quarter.

Late in the first, the teams exchanged baskets, with Schaaf and Hold both scoring on driving lay-ups, as Nevada held a 6-4 advantage. The Lady Tigers increased their lead to four when Hold came up with a steal in the back-court and found Brooke Sargent under the basket, where she was fouled and sent to the line, knocking down both charities.

From that point, El Do rattled off 14 straight points to go on top 18-8. The extended-run began with back-to-back baskets from Schaaf and Cameron McPeak to even the score at eight.

Early in the second frame, Schaaf put three points on the board the traditional way, followed by a McPeak trey from the left-wing to hand the Lady Bulldogs a six-point lead with 6:35 remaining in the first half.

The run was later capped by a Schaaf offensive rebound and lay-in, giving El Do a double-digit advantage.

Nevada's offensive drought ended with a Payne basket at the 5:03 mark of the second quarter, as the Lady Tigers trailed 18-10. El Do however, responded with a 12-0 blitz as its lead swelled to 20. The run began and ended with Schaaf mid-range pull-up jumpers.

The Lady Bulldogs led 33-12 at halftime.

The third quarter opened with a Hold drive and score, followed by a Jansen Miller free throw and a Madi Culbertson driving lay-up, cutting its deficit to 34-17.

After the 5-0 Nevada run, El Dorado Springs head coach Beau Swopes called a timeout to regroup his players. The Lady Bulldogs emereged from the short reprieve with McPeak drilling a 3-pointer from the left-wing, putting El Do in front 37-17.

Late in the third quarter and early into the fourth, Nevada pieced together a 7-0 run, beginning with a Miller, jumper and followed by a Culbertson triple. With 6:54 remaining in regulation, Hold found Payne in the post for two, as Nevada trailed 39-24. El Do however, outscored Nevada 16-11 to close out the contest.

For the Lady Tigers, Payne finished with a dozen points, Hold eight, and Culbertson seven.

Junior varsity contest

The Nevada Lady Tigers junior varsity team beat El Dorado Springs 29-15, prior to the varsity game. Nevada's Kat Ream tallied 12 points.

"We were awesome defensively in the second half," Lady Tigers JV coach Lori Thorp said.

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