Lady Tigers claw back -- almost

JOPLIN, Mo. -- The Nevada Lady Tigers' fourth-quarter comeback bid fell short in their matchup with the Springdale Lady Bulldogs on Thursday.

Springdale (Ark.), the defending champion, outlasted Nevada for a 54-51 first-round victory at the seventh-annual Freeman-Lady Eagle Classic Tournament.

"Our girls fought hard," said Nevada coach Brent Bartlett. "There's no quit in them."

Throw out the first half of the first quarter and the final result may have been different.

Springdale's trapping press created turnovers in bunches early, as they held the Lady Tigers scoreless until about the four-minute mark of the first period. The first four minutes were played almost entirely in the Lady Bulldogs end of the court.

Lacy Leonard's field goal finally broke the scoring drought with Springdale ahead 9-0. At the end of the first quarter, Nevada trailed 18-9 while playing Springdale dead even after the shaky start.

That trend continued in the second quarter. Springdale, forced to tone down its aggressive defensive tactics after seven first-quarter fouls, backed off a bit. Meanwhile, Nevada did a better job of handling the ball against the token pressure and found success in its half-court offense.

Nevada played Springdale to a draw in the second quarter, as well, to go into the halftime break trailing 44-32. The Lady Bulldogs managed a slight 14-11 third-quarter edge for a 44-32 advantage as the final quarter began.

The Lady Tigers, now with the defense making plays and perimeter shots falling, clawed back into it with 19 fourth-quarter points, while limiting Springdale to 10.

Said Bartlett, "We haven't played together enough to learn to trust each other yet, but I saw a little of that (trust) come out in the fourth quarter. We got more organized and were at our best."

Freshman reserve guard Amanda Wilson knocked down two 3-pointers in the period and sophomore first-year starter Lisa Pendrak hit one.

Wilson's seven fourth-quarter points, along with seven from junior guard Hillary Adams, keyed the Tigers' comeback effort. Pendrak scored all five of her points in the fourth.

Wilson's second trey cut the margin to 52-49 with about seven seconds to go. With Nevada forced to foul, Springdale senior Ashley Cothren stepped to the line and calmly sank two insurance free throws. Adams' driving layup at the buzzer closed the scoring.

Adams led the Tigers' offense with 13 points and Wilson recorded her first double-figure scoring output as a varsity player with 10. Junior transfer Chanelle Braun chipped in with seven. Nevada totaled seven 3-pointers.

The Tigers played without the 6-foot junior Leonard down the stretch as she went out with a twisted ankle with 6:02 left. Leonard, who scored 12 points, aggravated an injury originally suffered in a game on Tuesday and will likely miss the remaining tournament games.

Nevada (2-3) meets the loser of the Harrison (Ark.)/Neosho game today at 5:30 p.m.