Just a few hours after the Three Rivers College women's basketball team moved up to No. 2 in the National Junior College Athletic Association rankings, the Lady Raiders went out and showed everybody why they are ranked so high.

Three Rivers shook off a slow start and rolled to an 88-45 win over the Crowder Lady Roughriders Monday in a Region XVI contest at the Libla Family Sports Complex.

With the win, the Lady Raiders improve to 25-2 on the season and 10-0 in Region XVI play. Crowder is now 19-8 on the season and 4-6 in Region XVI.

"I thought we started off a little slow," Wiggs said. "But credit to Bramyia Johnson, Jasmine Davis, Laylah Reese, Samari Taylor and Courtney Bluitt — that group that comes off the bench. I feel like they really gave us a spark and got us going there."

Crowder's Adyson Roberts drained a 3-pointer with 5:47 left in the opening period to cap an 8-0 run by the Lady Roughriders and give them an 8-2 lead — but it was all Lady Raiders from there, as they closed the period on a 20-3 run and held Crowder to just 37 points the rest of the game.

Three Rivers pushed its lead to 40-19 by halftime, then used a huge third period to take a 71-28 lead to the fourth quarter.

"I think our offense is flowing well," Wiggs said. "The girls are doing a good job of executing and of knocking down open shots. But the biggest thing, though, is I think our defense has led to easy baskets and transition points. We held them to eight points in the second (period) and nine points in the third — and in that third quarter, we scored 31 points. I think that just goes to show that whenever you focus on the defensive end, the offense will come."

Brittani Wells and Kaleigh Thompson led a balanced Lady Raiders attack with 14 points apiece, while Johnson added 13, Kamille Brown had 12 points, the duo of Taylor and Reese each added 11 and Jasmine Davis finished with six.

Yannie Flemings had 11 rebounds, while Reese had 10 for her second double-double in a row and Taylor added six. Davis had four steals, while Brown had three and the duo of Reese and Lexi Weaver each had a pair.

Three Rivers is back in action Wednesday when it hosts State Fair in another Region XVI contest. Tipoff time at the Libla Family Sports Complex is set for 5 p.m.

"One game at a time," Wiggs said. "10-0 and all that stuff's great. It's great. We've worked really, really hard up to this point, so we want to stay focused on the task at hand — and that's our next game (against) State Fair. We've got to make sure that we're ready to go. (State Fair) coach (Nicole) Collier does a great job up there. And I know State Fair is going to come in here ready to try to beat us."

Mike Buhler - Daily American Republic