Feb. 4—This season starting games hasn’t been a problem for the Lady Tigers, it has been ending them.
There have been several times where the Lady Tigers had a lead going into halftime but lost it after a rough third quarter. THS kept their composure at home to take down the Tulsa-Memorial Lady Chargers 59-45 on Tuesday, Feb. 4. THS took the win after losing to the Lady Chargers on the road.
“Great win, we started the game well and had a good first half,” THS head coach David Qualls said. “This is the third game with a strong start. We were in the same situation with a halftime lead and we have talked about what we needed to do in the third quarter and not letting teams get back in the game.”
After the Lady Tigers took a 12-6 lead in the first quarter, they went on a nearly four-minute scoreless stretch as the Lady Chargers chipped away at the lead to make it a one-possession game. With time running out in the quarter, Lauren Stephens broke the run with a layup. THS led 14-10 at the end of the first quarter.
In the second quarter, the Lady Tigers didn’t allow a point for the first six minutes. With a strong press, the Lady Tigers were forcing plenty of turnovers and not allowing any clean shots for the Lady Chargers.
While the Lady Tigers’ defense was locking out the Lady Chargers, the offense padded onto the lead. THS outscored the Lady Chargers 11-6 in the second.
The third quarter proved to be the most important for the Lady Tigers. In the locker room, Qualls stressed the importance of winning the third quarter. It proved to be the Lady Tigers’ best as they notched 16 points and allowed just eight.
“Our focus was winning the third and we did that 16-8. That was the key to winning the game,” Qualls said.
Going into the third quarter, the Lady Tigers had a 41-24 lead. In the final quarter, the Lady Chargers started finding their rhythm from deep to hit five three-pointers. But it was too little too late as the Lady Tigers closed out the quarter with the 59-45 win.
“We just kept our poise, we didn’t play to not lose,” Qualls said.
The Lady Tigers had three players over 10 points. Lauren Stephens led the way with 20 points, Lakyn Adams added 13 points and Carsyn Gilbert rounded out the trio with 11 points.
THS is back in action at 7:30 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 7 at Pryor.
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