By Kyle Roberts
RUSTON – Despite key runs by the Magnolia Lady Panthers throughout the ballgame that kept Ruston at bay for most of Friday night, it was toughness down the stretch that brought the Lady Bearcats to a 69-66 win in Memorial Gym after trailing nearly the entire night.
“Credit Magnolia; they played very hard tonight and our girls felt the same way,” Ruston head coach Meredith Graf said. “We were just purely being out-hustled and outworked at certain points. And so when you get in that striking distance of two, four or even six points, and you’re right there, we would shoot ourselves in the foot on silly things. And it’s something that our team has been very conscious of lately. We’re trying to work through that and trying to figure out how to prevent some of those things.
“But overall, the main thing is I told them you only have to be up, you know, with zero seconds on the clock.”
Ruston took its first lead of the night at 66-64 with a layup by senior Jaliyah McWain through traffic with 1:11 to play following a three-pointer by senior Zaccheya Jackson to tie the game 64-64 25 seconds earlier.
The Lady Bearcats would outscore the Lady Panthers 5-2 down the stretch for the victory following a loss to Wossman Thursday night at home 71-42.
Ruston would get down 18-13 after the first quarter before fighting back in the second quarter to cut Magnolia’s lead to 40-37 at the half.
Tough plays by McWain included back-to-back layups after an in-bound steal near the four minute mark to cut the lead to one-score. Senior Jordan Tate also fought her way to grab key offensive boards before halftime.
The third quarter would see Ruston tie the game 52-52 with 1:02 on the clock after freshman Angelica Green knocked down a pair of three pointers. Magnolia would use a quick 4-0 run to take a 56-52 lead into the fourth quarter, but it would not be enough as Ruston would get the win after out-scoring the Lady Panthers 17-10 in the final quarter.
“I’m really proud of Angelica,” Graf said of her freshman. “We gave her the assignment to guard their best player who is very fast and has a lot of skill. (Her three-pointers) really gave us a good boost to get over that hump, so to speak. And so for her to come in and be able to do that for us is super exciting. The teammates are pumped for her, and it’s just one of those things anytime we can get something like that out of a younger player, we want to take that.”
McWain finished the night with 18 points, while Jackson totaled 14.
The Lady Bearcats return to action Monday, Dec. 18, at Gibsland-Coleman for a 6 p.m. tipoff.
