HILLSBORO, Mo. -- The Lady Raiders grabbed 21 steals, and in doing so, prevented State Fair from stealing the top spot in the region standings heading into a showdown.
Three Rivers College forced 28 turnovers against Jefferson College and used those to boost the offense for a 73-62 win Wednesday.
"We were able to get out in the passing lanes and get our hands up. The kids are anticipating a little better. It was pretty cool," Three Rivers coach Jeff Walk said.
With the win, Three Rivers (19-4, 5-1 Region XVI) moves a half game ahead of State Fair in the region standings. Three Rivers also holds the head to head tiebreaker after winning at State Fair. The two will play at 5 p.m. Saturday at the Bess Activity Center.
It was the fourth most turnovers the Lady Raiders have caused this year. They previously were in the 30s against a pair of JV teams and Malcolm X, all of which they beat comfortably.
Six different Lady Raiders had at least one steal and Ge'Naisha Robinson led the team with six. Michael Everhart and Camdyn McDaniel both got five.
The team's 21 steals were one shy of matching a season high.
The extra possessions were necessary as the Three Rivers was shooting poorly for much of the game.
The Lady Raiders finished 28 percent from the field, 10 percent worse than the Lady Vikings (9-13, 0-5), and nobody shot better than 50 percent. They did, however, have eight more attempts and matched Jefferson's five 3-pointers.
It was a season-low shooting percentage for the Lady Raiders, who have shot better than 50 percent as a team twice this season and haven't done so since their 113-47 win over Malcolm X on Nov. 18.
Walk told the team to focus on defense, and let that translate into offense.
"First quarter, it was a little tough," Walk said. "We didn't shoot the ball very well last night … and it was affecting them throughout the ball game."
Free-throw shooting also saw a big uptick from Saturday's home loss against Moberly Area. In that game, Three Rivers was 8 for 27 (29.6 percent) from the foul line, a season low.
On Wednesday, the Lady Raiders were 28 for 37 (75.7 percent), which matched a season high for made free throws and was a free throw short of setting a season best percentage.
"It's amazing from one game to the next how that goes," Walk said. "We shot a lot of free throws in practice. It was really good, we just need to continue that."
Still, after 14 lead changes Three Rivers was ahead by a solitary point early in the fourth quarter when McDaniel kick-started a game-changing run.
McDaniel sank a 3 off an assist by DeNayia Holmes with more than 6 minutes left.
Robinson soon added a bucket, and Olivia Crane and Holmes each added two free throws.
Jalisa Smith then capped the 11-point run with a putback with 3 minutes to play and Jefferson didn't get within seven points in the closing minutes.
Robinson led the Lady Raiders with 15 points and added seven rebounds and six steals.
Olivia Crane got 11 points off the bench after sinking all six of her free throws. Holmes added 10 points, all at the foul line.
Three Rivers committed 10 fewer turnovers than Jefferson, but was minus-4 on points off turnovers.
Walk said that the team pressed in spots, but largely stayed back in a 2-3 zone during the fourth quarter.
"Down late, it got to where it was working and we just kept doing it," Walk said. "They had a really good guard … We don't need to press every possession."