CARTERVILLE, Ill. — A week after winning a tight, one-point thriller at home against John A. Logan College, the Three Rivers women's basketball team couldn't keep pace. Plagued with foul trouble, the Lady Raiders went nearly six minutes between field goals in the middle of the second half as Logan pulled away for an 88-73 win over visiting Three Rivers. After missing a last-second shot in a one-point loss at Three Rivers, Logan put together a 13-4 run after the teams traded the lead five times and were tied on six occasions. "Third quarter the ball didn't go in as easy as it was," Lady Raiders coach Jeff Walk said. "We didn't play defense as well as we wanted to." The Lady Raiders (11-4) were led by Alex Kohler's 17 points off the bench while DeNayia Holmes and Hailee Erickson each scored 16. Lakeita Chappel was a point shy of a double-double with 10 rebounds. Destiny Cozart's 26 points led the Vols (8-2). Three players fouled out for the Lady Raiders while another finished with four fouls as Logan sank 25 of 29 foul shots. Cozart was perfect from the line in eight attempts and also hit 8 of 13 shots from the field. "You can't do that," Walk said. "We've got to learn how to handle that, play good defense and not foul."
Kohler's 3-pointer with 2:16 left in the third quarter cut Logan's lead to 57-55 but an offensive rebound led to a pair of free throws for the Vols, who finished the quarter on a 15-7 run before a pair of free throws by Holmes. The Lady Raiders missed six shots from the field while free throws by Sydni Williams snapped Logan's 7-0 run to start the fourth quarter. A steal and layin by Erickson with 6 1/2 minutes to play ended a field goal drought of nearly six minutes for Three Rivers. "We missed a couple of layups in that span," Walk said. "You make those you never know how those turn out." Three Rivers scored the first four points of the game and led 7-3 following an Erickson 3-pointer. Logan responded with a 9-3 swing to take the lead before Williams tied it at 12-all on a jump shot. Logan led 16-15 after one quarter and later scored six straight as the Raiders went nearly three minutes without a basket. Kohler's 3 ended the drought and cut Logan's lead to 27-22. Murry then scored off a pass from Casey Douglas and Kohler later scored off a missed 3 but missed the free throw with a chance to tie it. Chappel rebounded a missed 3-pointer and set up Holmes for a game-tying 3 with 26 seconds in the half. "Felt like we played a pretty good half," Walk said. Cozart's three-point play opened the scoring in the second half, breaking the 33-all tie, but Erickson answered with a 3 and later scored off a steal to cap a 7-0 Raider run. The teams were tied at 40-all and 48 all before Cozart's 3-pointer with 3:55 left in the third quarter put Logan ahead for good. Three Rivers suffered it second straight loss heading into the semester break. The Lady Raiders return Dec. 28-29 in Memphis, Tennessee before opening region play at Mineral Area on Jan 6.
Brian Rosener - Daily American Republic