Lady Tiger win streak halted at eight

The Nevada Lady Tigers' eight-game win streak was snapped in a 64-56 loss to McDonald County on Friday.

Lady Mustang sophomore Deanna Goddard was nearly unstoppable with a game-high 26-point night -- 18 in the second half, 14 in the decisive fourth quarter.

"She's a nice player," said Nevada coach Brent Bartlett. "They pulled our (zone) defense out so wide that our guards couldn't rotate quick enough to help on her. It really hurt us in the fourth quarter."

The Tigers, behind Lacy Leonard's 10 points, overcame a 25-20 halftime deficit and appeared on the way to another strong second-half performance with a 38-37 advantage after three quarters.

But there was no fourth-quarter magic this time.

McDonald County outscored the Tigers 27-18.

Goddard went on a personal 10-point run early in the fourth to push the Mustangs to a 49-42 lead with about four minutes to go. McDonald County sank 11 of 12 free throws down the stretch to ice the win.

Asked if he considered a man-to-man defense as an option to slow down Goddard, Bartlett said he didn't feel comfortable switching to a man defense with this team, at this time.

"We've got some young girls who are still learning (defensive) techniques," he said, "and it has to be habit and reaction, not a think process in a man-to-man."

Leonard led Nevada with 22 points, while guard Hillary Adams scored 17, including three 3-pointers. Lisa Pendrak added nine points, matching Adams' trey total. Chanelle Braun chipped in with five.

Kaisha Murphy backed Goddard with 14 points and Denise Eckman netted 10.

Nevada (10-4) saw its conference record even at 1-1, while McDonald County improved to 13-2, 2-0 in the conference.

The Tigers meet Carthage in an away game on Tuesday.

JV game

Nevada's freshmen-only junior varsity squad lost 32-22 to McDonald County, a squad comprised of sophomores and juniors.

The young Tigers held their own for three quarters. A disastrous, turnover-plagued fourth quarter, in which they were outscored 18-2, wiped out a 20-14 third-quarter lead.

"The key to our game is the number of turnovers we have," said Nevada coach Allison Gorman, "and we had a lot in the second half. Maybe, we just weren't ready to play four quarters."

Erica Klinksick, Tori Miller and Kylee Francis led the Tigers with four points apiece. Bethany Brower and Jordan Scotten had three each.