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Turnovers, fatigue doom Lady Tigers
By Joe Warren
Nevada Daily Mail
Playing their fifth game in eight days finally caught up to the Nevada Lady Tigers. They turned the ball over 25 times and looked a step slow defensively as they lost to Fort Scott Tuesday, 65-53.
At first it seemed as if Nevada was not phased by playing so many games in such a short period of time, as they went 3-1 in their first four games of the stretch.
Tuesday a fresh Fort Scott team took advantage of the fatigued Nevada squad, finding open shots along the perimeter and getting to more loose balls than their Missouri counterparts.
"We just looked a little sluggish," Nevada coach Brent Bartlett said.
Even so, Nevada had chances to stay in the game.
Nevada started with a 6-0 run, getting threes from Hillary Adams and Amanda Wilson.
They parlayed that run into a 14-7 lead with two minutes left in the first period.
Then things unraveled for Nevada.
Fort Scott went on a 15-0 run to end the first period and begin the second period as Nevada was held off the scoreboard for six minutes.
An Adams three finally stopped the bleeding with 4:03 left in the half, cutting the lead to 22-16.
Lisa Pendrak followed that with a three of her own and Nevada was suddenly within three points.
A turnover led to an intentional foul on Pendrak as she grabbed the Fort Scott player as they went for an uncontested layup.
After one Fort Scott free throw, Nevada made it a one-point game on a traditional three-point play by Katie Rice with 1:20 left to make it 23-22.
Fort Scott scored the final basket of the half to take a 25-22 lead at intermission.
In the second half Fort Scott hit a three and Pendrak answered it with one of her own, and after a Pendrak steal and layup, Nevada trailed 28-27.
A Nevada (5-2) turnover killed the rally, and sparked Fort Scott (4-0) as they went on an 8-0 run to open up the game.
Nevada made one final push to end the third quarter and begin the second as they closed to 43-41 on another basket by Pendrak, who scored 10 points in the game.
Unfortunately Nevada ran out of steam as they could not keep up with Fort Scott, who was playing their first game in 10 days.
Lacy Leonard and Wilson each scored 11 points to lead the team, while Adams was held to seven points. Adams had averaged 23.4 points per game over the previous five contests.
Nevada will play again Friday when they host Harrisonville.