Things seemed bleak for the Lady Devils after a lackadaisical first half, but they ramped up the intensity defensively as the game progressed and got another strong performance from A’Lyrica Hughes to snap Hancock County’s five-game winning streak at home by a score of 69-68.
It was a slow start for Owensboro, as they were scoreless until a steal and a layup by senior CJ Paige made it 4-2 with 4:45 left in the first quarter. The Lady Hornets quickly responded with a three though, as their strong play offensively paired with a 2-3 zone that was forcing turnover after turnover helped them take a 17-9 lead into the second.
Hancock County didn’t slow down to start the second either, forcing a few more turnovers and hitting four threes to take a 31-13 lead with 4:30 left in the first half. Juniors Lily Roberts (nine) and Ella House (seven) played a big part in the strong quarter for the Lady Hornets, combining for all but five points en route to a 39-21 halftime lead.
But the Lady Devils came alive in the third, as they turned defense into offense—especially from junior A’Lyrica Hughes. She forced turnovers left and right in the quarter, but most importantly got 12 of her 13 points on a 19-5 run to cut Owensboro’s deficit to 50-47 going into the fourth.
Shortly into the quarter Hughes answered the call once again, hitting a three to knot things up at 50-50. A few minutes later the junior guard missed a three to take their first lead of the night, but Paige was there to clean it up and make it 56-54 Owensboro with 5:30 to go.
Hancock County didn’t go away though, hitting a big three to untie the game and knocking down a few free throws to reclaim a 64-58 lead with just under two minutes to go. Paige responded with a three of her own on the ensuing possession, followed by a steal and two free throws out of a timeout from senior K’Asia Palmer to leave the Lady Devils behind 64-63 with 1:29 to play.
Owensboro kept its foot on the gas, getting a steal from Hughes as she was then sent to the charity stripe thanks to the great halfcourt trap. She proceeded to sink both to take a 65-64 lead, but House was fouled and hit 1-2 to knot the game up at 65-65 shortly after.
It was none other than Hughes again who put the Lady Devils back out in front, sinking a tough layup in transition before senior Chandler Worth took a charge to get possession back up 67-65 with 26.8 seconds to play. Seconds later Paige had a chance to seal the game for Owensboro, but was only able to get one at the line and the Lady Hornets had possession down 68-65 with 22.3 to go.
After nearly turning it over near halfcourt Hancock County called a timeout with 13.3 seconds to go, but were unable to get a good look and the Lady Devils secured possession. Hughes went to the line and hit the first of two, which turned out to be the game-winner as Roberts hit a three as time expired in the 69-68 loss for the Lady Hornets.
Head Coach Jansen Locher was very proud of his team’s response in the second half, as it was a true team effort that helped them extend their winning streak at home thanks to a strong comeback.
“I was very proud of my girls,” Locher said. “Everybody that played did a great job. They did what we asked them to do and I’m just happy for them, because with a comeback like that they deserved to win.”
It was the fifth game in seven days for Owensboro, as Locher felt like that contributed to his team not being into the flow of the game to start the night. While turnovers, offensive rebounding and Roberts (27) and House (20) combined 47 points gave them fits in the contest, the Lady Devils head coach was thrilled with how they stepped up defensively in the second half to get the win.
“The resiliency just from our girls to be done 22 at one point, come back and the confidence in each other they had [was special],” Locher said. “The conversation we had at halftime was that it was going to be our defense was going to get us back unto it and that third quarter our defense led to offense. We got a lot of steals.”
Hughes played a very large part in the comeback win, as she tallied 23 points in the second half to go along with six steals in the game. Her leadership was just as vital, as Locher feels like performances like tonight shows that she’s going to make coaches at the collegiate level very happy in the future.
“If there’s not college coaches just drooling over her I don’t know what they want in a player,” Locher said. “She’s somebody that’s in passing lanes, a great on-ball defender, a great teammate… She just did it all tonight. That’s the difference between her early in her career and the leader that she is now, is that she can take over a game. When she has the mindset that she can take it over and she believes in herself, she’s a top player in the region.”
Hughes credited her teammates for helping her become more confident after the slow start, as they were able to get hyped and come together as a team to secure the win. Her backcourt counterpart Paige was a huge help, as the senior guard also finished in double figures with 14 points.
Owensboro improves to 14-5 overall and will have a tough road challenge up next amidst hopes of continuing their winning streak, as the Lady Devils will meet a third region powerhouse in Meade County next Tuesday at 8 p.m.
“We got another big challenge on Tuesday,” Locher said. “We’re going to Meade County. It’s a long trip in the middle of the week, but we feel like we’re some of the top teams in the region and it could be a matchup that we see later on down the road. We’re excited about that matchup. We want to play against the best and we think they’re one of the better teams in the region, so we’re excited about that challenge.”
