DYERSBURG, Tenn. — Sydni Williams was home with the flu and with her absence, went the entirety of Three Rivers' pure post players. The Lady Raiders still rebounded well. Combined with improved defense, Three Rivers beat Dyersburg State 72-51 in its second to last road game. "It was about as good as we've rebounded all year long against a bigger team," Three Rivers coach Jeff Walk said. "The past week and a half we've been pretty hard on them (about rebounding). That finally started sinking in a little bit last night. The first quarter was one and done as far as Dyersburg shooting the ball. We just hope to continue that." The Lady Raiders (14-8) held Dyersburg to seven points in the first quarter and to jump out to a 16 point lead after 10 minutes. "We were able to play man, keep them in front of us and limit them to one shot," Walk said. "That's been our Achilles heal the past three games, the defensive side of things and keeping people off the glass." Dyersburg (5-6) closed the gap by five points going into halftime, largely because Three Rivers' shooting took a turn for the worse.

"They didn't do hardly anything different in that second quarter, it was more self-inflicted pain than anything else," Walk said. Hailee Erickson led Three Rivers with 19 points after making six 3-pointers, including three in the first quarter. "Shot the ball well and that got her going early. Then she made six for the game. She played well last night," Walk said. Lakeita Chappel added 15 points, DeNayia Holmes had 11 and Casey Douglas had 10. The win ends a three game losing streak, which was Three Rivers' second of the season and matches their longest of the season. The Lady Raiders will also now begin an extended home stand that includes three straight Region XVI games against Moberly Area, Jefferson and State Fair.

Scott Borkgren - Daily American Republuc