Getting a combined 39 points from Libby Morris and Emilee Iverson, the Grove Lady Ridgerunners overcame 11 fourth quarter turnovers and a late comeback by the McDonald County Lady Mustangs for a 51-44 win Friday night.
The Lady Ridgerunners (2-3) knocked down 8 three-pointers on the night, including five from Iverson, in building a 17-point lead by the end of the third quarter. But turnovers and a scoring flurry by the Lady Mustangs’ Nicole Ickes trimmed the lead to single digits midway through the period. Ickes scored 11 of her 13 points in the fourth quarter, including seven straight that cut Grove’s lead to 42-33 with four minutes left in the game.
The Lady Ridgerunners still led by nine with just under three minutes to play when the Lady Mustangs’ Preslea Reece appeared to have scored and drawn a foul. But instead of a potential three-point play and a six-point deficit with 2:44 left, Reece was called for a charge, the McDonald County bench was hit with a technical foul, and the Lady Mustangs never got any closer until the final seconds.
Morris had 8 of her game-high 22 in the fourth period to help the Lady Ridgerunners hold on for their second win of the season. Grove won in large part by outrebounding McDonald County 31-23 despite a decided height advantage for the Lady Mustangs. Morris led the Lady Ridgerunners with 8 rebounds while Paige Miller had 7 boards to go along with 8 points.
Reece led McDonald County with 16 points and 9 rebounds, scoring 11 of her team’s 23 points through the first three quarters before Ickes provided help late in the game.
But while Reece scored on the inside, the Lady Ridgerunners countered from outside. Iverson and Morris both hit a pair of threes to build a 16-8 first quarter lead. Iverson knocked down two more and had 8 points in the third as Grove built a 25-15 halftime lead into a 40-23 margin by the end of the period.
The senior guard finished with 17 points and 4 assists. Point guard Karah Bassett finished with 4 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists for Grove.
The Lady Ridgerunners will travel to Vinita on Tuesday to take on the 4A No. 7 Lady Hornets. Vinita won 45-28 in Grove on Dec. 3.
