Lady Raiders ride second-half surge to win

Lady Raider Sara Woodgeard (24) goes up for two in the first half Saturday afternoon against Iowa Western at Bess Activity Center. Woodgeard scored 13 points against the Lady Reivers. (Rob Tate/DAR) [Click to enlarge]

By ROB TATE ~ DAR Sports Writer

It took awhile for the Three Rivers Lady Raiders to warm up on the offensive end Saturday afternoon, but Three Rivers coach Jeff Walk is used to that at this point.

But once the offense got going in the second half, the Lady Raiders flourished and went on to an 87-66 thrashing of Iowa Western at the Bess Activity Center.

Iowa Western got out to a 10-1 run to start the game, but the Lady Raiders took a twopoint lead into halftime and outscored the Lady Reivers, 48-29 in the second half.

"That's been our typical game," Walk said of the slow start. "We've always gotten out of the gate slow and finished like gangbusters. The kids just started playing defense and just started blocking out."

The win was the second of the season for Three Rivers (16-4, 4-2 Region XVI) over Iowa Western (9-9, 1-5) as the Lady Raiders took a 77-73 decision on the road back on Nov. 29.

In that game, the Lady Raiders shot just 41 percent from the field. But on Saturday they improved upon that by shooting 54 percent (19-for-35).

After the Lady Raiders went down early, it was the quick strikes by sophomore Morgan Davis that got the Lady Raiders back in it. Davis hit two 3-pointers during a 16-6 run in the first half that got Three Rivers back into the game.

"She's an excellent 3-point shooter," Walk said of Davis. "She kept us in the game."

With the Lady Raiders trailing 34-27 with 4:29 left in the first half, Davis splashed another 3-pointer that helped spark a 12-3 run to end the half. Dennisha Mitchell added another 3-pointer during the run and also added two free throws to take a 39-37 lead into halftime.

In the second half, The Lady Raiders had trouble stopping Iowa Western's center Negesti Taylor at first.

Taylor scored 10 of the Lady Reivers' first 12 points in the second half. Taylor finished with a team-high 16 points in just 23 minutes on the floor.

"Our season has been up and down," Iowa Western coach Jim Turgeon said. "But (Taylor) is kind of game to game. When she plays like that, we're pretty good."

Taylor's last 2-pointer of the stretch tied the game at 48-48.

Then Mitchell and Chelsea Johnson took over.

After two straight buckets by Johnson, Mitchell then hit a 2-point jumper then hit two 3-pointers to give the Lady Raiders a 12-point lead. Johnson then hit 1-of-2 from the line cap that run.

"In the second half, Mitch came in and hit some 3s and then the floodgates opened," Walk said. "Her and Morgan can flat shoot the ball -- you have to get out there on them."

Turgeon didn't like how the first half ended for his team, nor did he like how things started after the break despite Taylor playing well.

"I thought Three Rivers got a little momentum before halftime actually," Turgeon said. "In the second half we left some their shooters open and they hit some big 3s and they kind of got momentum. Next thing you know, we look up and we're down 10."

After the Johnson and Mitchell offensive outburst, it was all Sara Woodgeard from there.

The freshman, who scored 13 points in her last game against Iowa Western, scored nine of her team's next 13 points as the Lady Raiders ran away with it.

"She is a phenomenal kid, what you seen in about eight possessions is what she is capable of," Walk said.

Woodgeard finished with 13 points once again versus the Lady Reivers.

Fareeda Washington ended the game with 14 points on 5-of-7 shooting from the field. Mitchell finished with 13 points and Johnson had nine.

Three Rivers forced 21 turnovers on and had more nine more assists than the Lady Reivers.

Ever since Three Rivers' loss last Saturday against Moberly, the Lady Raiders have focused on what wronged them in that game.

"That has been our emphasis in practice is the Moberly game especially since State Fair beat them last week," Walk added.