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Chicks get revenge on Lady Tigers
NEVADA, Mo. -- Not long after learning they had lost a second teammate for the season with a knee injury, the Lady Tigers were forced to play a rematch with the Pleasant Hill Chicks.
Nevada had knocked off Pleasant Hill in overtime during the Lady Tiger Classic Friday.
Tuesday was a different day, with a different result.
Three different times the Lady Tigers went more than three minutes without scoring, and in a deciding seven-minute stretch in the second half, Nevada (11-8) was outscored 16-3.
The Chicks (14-6) went on to win handily, 48-32, giving Nevada its second loss of the day.
The first loss came when Nevada found out that teammate Lindsay Rice would indeed miss the remainder of the season with a reinjured left knee.
"You could tell it affected the way we played," Nevada head coach Brent Bartlett said.
Nevada came out firing, taking an 11-7 lead after the first period thanks to 3-pointers by Lisa Pendrak and Kristen Badgley.
But the Chicks controlled the flow of the game for the remainder, building a 20-17 lead at halftime.
Bartlett said Pleasant Hill didn't do much different from the teams' first meeting, but that Nevada didn't play well.
"I didn't feel we represented our program the way I know we can," Bartlett said. "They outworked us."
In the second half Pleasant Hill led 28-26 when they made a move. The Chicks finished the third quarter with a pair of baskets to go up 33-26, then opened the fourth with six unanswered points.
Badgley hit another trey with 6:06 remaining in the game, Nevada's first points since the 1:16 mark in the third, then the Lady Tigers didn't score again until Amanda Wilson hit a three with 1:59 to play.
During that stretch Pleasant Hill managed five more points, building a 44-29 lead.
Wilson's shot made it 44-32, but Pleasant Hill made four consecutive free throws in the final two minutes to secure the win.
"Our defense was just not as tenacious, or intense, as it has been," Bartlett said. "We had trouble containing and contesting inside."
Of course the loss of Rice is more than just a psychological blow, as she was the third-leading scorer on the team averaging just under 10 points per game.
With the team's leading scorer -- Afton Baldwin -- also out for the year, the offensive struggles for Nevada were not new.
Pendrak led Nevada with 11 points, while Caley Capellan led the Chicks with 16.
Bartlett was visibly distraught after the game when talking about Rice tearing her ACL for the second straight year. He said that Rice had the makeup to work her way back again.
"If anybody can do it again, it's Lindsay Rice," he said. "She's tough. The Rice's are a tough family."
The Lady Tigers must move on this season, as they have games on consecutive days beginning Friday.
Nevada travels to El Dorado Springs to take on the Lady Bulldogs Friday night, in a rematch of a 55-38 Nevada win last week in the Lady Tiger Classic. That game ended up being an El Dorado victory when Nevada was forced to forfeit for using an ineligible player.
Nevada goes to Lamar Saturday to take on another nearby rival.