Putting on a defensive showcase, the Lady Devils were able to battle its way to a 42-22 win over McClean County to close out the Independence Bank Kentucky-Indiana Classic.
Owensboro took charge early in the contest, jumping out to a 20-9 lead about halfway through the second quarter. However, some late turnovers allowed the Lady Cougars to cut it a 22-14 game by halftime.
Despite McLean County’s efforts to fight its way back into the game, the Lady Devils responded with a 9-0 run to start the second half.
Owensboro’s ability to respond to short runs by the Lady Cougars was a key to its success on Tuesday, as Head Coach Jansen Locher said it started with their effort defensively.
“It starts defensively, getting some stops and having girls move and things like that,” Locher said. “So I feel like defensively we buckled down and then we were able to get some players to make some baskets for us. Gibson shot the ball well today, Wilkins came in and gave us a couple big buckets that helped. Once they get their confidence up and everything is clicking for us, we know we can be tough.”
The Lady Devils were able to stifle McLean County’s offense all game long, holding them to single digits in all four quarters.
The Lady Cougars were only able to muster up two points in the final quarter of play, as Owensboro earned the 42-22 win.
“I feel like the girls came in and played hard, played through mistakes a little bit better and we kind of just kept extending the lead,” Locher said. “That’s one thing that we were working on doing is to keep extending out the lead and not let the other team back. So I think we did a good job of not letting them back in the game, because they do have some shooters and some girls that can make plays to do that.”
Sophomore Alyrica Hughes was the usual scoring leader for the Lady Devils on Tuesday, finishing with 15 points while junior Lindsey Gibson followed behind with eight points.
Hughes is almost always at the forefront of Owensboro’s offense, but when her teammates are able to chip in it makes them even stronger.
“We know that she can do it all,” Locher said. “Everybody knows she can do it all. She limited some of her turnovers today which always helps in these games. They played a zone so they slowed us down a little bit with that, but we still did a good job of creating shots. We know she can get to what she needs to, but when she has everyone around her hitting some shots and making some plays it makes it easier on her.”
The win snaps a two-game losing streak for the Lady Devils, as Locher and company are pleased to have a win going into Christmas. Sitting at 6-5 overall, Owensboro will look to grab another win when they take on Rockcastle County at 4 p.m. on Dec. 28.
