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Lady Tigers defeat Carthage at home
NEVADA, Mo. -- "It was not a thing of beauty." Nevada Lady Tigers head basketball coach Brent Bartlett couldn't have described the game any better as his team returned to Wynn Gymnasium Friday night to take on the Lady Tigers of Carthage. In a game in which neither team could find the basket from the field or the free-throw line, the Lady Tigers struggled to stay in the contest for the first three quarters, but got the offensive spark they needed down the stretch to earn a 48-33 victory.
The Lady Tigers came into the night with a measure of revenge on their minds from the previous meeting between the two former Southwest Conference rivals -- a game that Bartlett thought his team should have won. In that contest, the Lady Tigers held an eight-point lead heading into the final period, only to see Carthage rally to take a 53-46 victory.
On top of the motivation of simply getting the bad taste of that most recent defeat out of their mouths, the Lady Tigers had the added motivation of still looking for their first win over Carthage in the 11th meeting of the two squads.
Neither team had a stellar offensive showing in Friday night's game and the Lady Tigers were forced to rely on a hot streak in the fourth quarter to work their way to a victory. The zone defense that the Lady Tigers implemented in the latter portions of the game seemed to keep Carthage off balance, leading to a number of bad shots and offensive makes that gave Nevada the opening it needed to pull away.
"Down the stretch, I thought the zone was the big difference," Bartlett said.
Both teams got off to a very slow start in the contest as Carthage shot just 32 percent in the opening half and was the better of the two teams in that category by nearly 10 percent as the Lady Tigers were able to convert on just 23 percent of their field goals. Despite those struggles from the field, however, the Lady Tigers still found themselves with an 18-16 advantage heading into the break.
Foul trouble in the second half for Nevada looked as though it may give Carthage an opening to take control of the game, but several turnovers and an offense that simply had no rhythm throughout the contest allowed Nevada to stay in the game, extending their lead to as much as seven on two different occasions in the third quarter. Carthage's already struggling offense simply seemed to shut down in the fourth quarter, ultimately leading to a 48-33 victory for Nevada.
"It was a great team victory," Bartlett said. " I told them in the locker room, everybody who played, and even the ones who didn't, contributed to this win."
Sophomore Tiffani Long led the offensive effort for Nevada as she put up a game-high 13 points in the contest. Joining her in double figures was senior Heather Thomas with 10.
Neither team shot well from the field as the Lady Tigers shot just 18-for-58 from the field while Carthage was 10-for-43. Those struggles were matched for both sides at the charity stripe as Carthage made 10 of their 19 attempts while Nevada converted on just nine of 22.
With that win, the Lady Tigers improved their record to 10-4 on the year and are now set to take a short break before opening the 11th annual Nevada Lady Tiger Classic tournament on Tuesday against the Lady Eagles of Joplin.