Menu
Odessa stuns No. 1-seed Lady Tigers
By Larry Lewis
OAK GROVE, Mo. -- In the mildest of upsets, the top-seeded Nevada Lady Tigers saw their season come to an abrupt close with a 59-51 defeat by the No. 4-seed Odessa Lady Dawgs on Wednesday.
"Mild upset" because both teams entered the Class 4, District 13 Tournament with nearly identical records -- Odessa (17-9), Nevada (16-9). Plus the Lady Tigers indifferent play recently had raised questions as they staggered to a 1-4 mark in their last five games.
On this night, the well-coached, athletic Lady Dawgs were, without question, superior as they outplayed the Lady Tigers in nearly every phase.
"It's very disappointing," said Nevada coach Brent Bartlett, "but they're a good ballclub."
Nevada jumped to an early 9-2 lead on the strength of 3-of-3 shooting from behind the arc, two from freshman Amanda Wilson.
In fact, 3-pointers were largely responsible for keeping the Lady Tigers within striking distance. They hit seven to only one for Odessa.
The tide quickly turned, however, as the Lady Dawgs came rushing back with a 15-2 run to gain their first lead at 13-11, a position they never surrendered. Odessa held a 17-11 first-quarter advantage.
An all-too-common occurrence -- Lady Tiger turnovers -- contributed mightily to the Odessa run. At one point, Nevada committed four straight against Odessa's full-court pressure. The Lady Dawgs converted each to scores on the other end.
Odessa's 5-10 junior post Ami Beck had a career night working inside against the Lady Tiger zone. Beck scored 11 in the first quarter, 21 in the first half, all virtually uncontested high-percentage shots.
Said Bartlett, "The thing that was probably most disappointing was our defense. We were always a step behind."
Nevada trailed by as many as 10 in the second quarter, but cut the margin to seven at the half, 33-26.
The Lady Tigers crept within three twice in the third period. Each time they seemed poised to make a serious run at the Lady Dawgs, the turnover bug reared its ugly head to kill momentum.
The third quarter expired with Nevada trailing 44-39.
Nevada limited Beck to only seven second-half points, but the Lady Dawgs found enough from other sources to maintain their lead to the final horn. In the fourth period, Odessa sank 9-of-14 from the line. Most of the makes, seven straight, were in clutch situations to hold the Lady Tigers at bay.
Beck finished with a game-high 28 points, the only double-figure scorer for Odessa.
Junior Lacy Leonard led the Lady Tigers with 14. Wilson added 11, including three treys, as did sophomore guard Lisa Pendrak to account for nine points.
All of the Lady Tigers return next season, which is encouraging to Bartlett.
"I'm proud of what this team has accomplished this year," he said. "They're a special group and I'm lucky to have them all back and working together toward another district championship."