By Malcolm Butler
Jaliyah McWain never ran out of gas Friday night.
And it was a good thing for the Ruston Lady Bearcats.
McWain scored a game-high 25 points to lead Ruston to a 40-36 win over Ouachita (11-15, 5-3) at the Madhouse on Millhaven as head coach Meredith Graf’s team picked up a big district win.
With the victory, Ruston (12-13, 6-2) is now alone in second place in the District 2-5A standings, one game behind Alexandria Senior High (7-1) and now one game ahead of Ouachita (5-3).
“I am very proud of how hard and under control my team played tonight,” said Graf. “It was definitely a physical ball game and with the great ball pressure from Ouachita, I thought we really competed on both ends. Our effort was what allowed us to create enough separation. A great team win for us tonight.”
Through the opening eight minutes of play, it appeared as though the first team to 20 points might win. The Lions missed every field goal attempt they took — and they got plenty of them thanks to offensive rebound after offensive rebound — as the Lady Bearcats held a 6-2 advantage after one quarter of action.
McWain started to catch fire in the second quarter, scoring nine of the team’s 11 points, including burying a contested fade away three-pointer as the buzzer sounded giving the Bearcats a 17-10 advantage at the half.
As important as McWain’s points were for the Lady Bearcats, so was her ability to handle the consistent Ouachita defensive pressure throughout the game.
“Jaliyah obviously does a lot of things for us and tonight she did what was needed,” said Graf. “I thought her ability to not be denied the ball was very important. We need the ball In her hands to create opportunities for our team as well as for herself. She competed and lead the way she is capable tonight. Thought she showed great trust in her teammates and a great desire to win.”
The third quarter saw Ruston push its lead out to as much as 25-16 before Ouachita scored the final five points of the quarter to close the gap to 25-21 entering the fourth quarter.
The two teams traded blows in the fourth. With Ruston holding onto a 31-26 advantage, a couple of big buckets from players not named McWain helped the Lady Cats maintain the lead.
Jordan Tate buried a huge three-pointer from the far wing with 3:30 to play to push Ruston’s lead to 34-26. After the Lions closed the game to 36-32, Samiya Lewis drained an 18-footer with 2:03 remaining to increase Ruston’s lead to six points.
In addition to McWain’s 25 points, Lewis added six points for Ruston. Ouachita was led by Mikera Abrams with 14 points.
