A strong start and a solid finish allowed Ozark to escape Pulaski Robinson with 68-52 victory in 4A-4 Conference action Friday night.
Senior forward Olivia Melton and senior guard Kylie Ladd scored 19 points each as the Lady Hillbillies (17-3, 5-0) sent Robinson (14-3, 2-3) to its third consecutive loss.
Ozark held 35-17 advantage at the half, but Robinson clawed back to within 46-41 a minute into the fourth quarter. Ladd scored eight of her points in the final six minutes to help the Lady Hillbillies claim the victory.
"We got caught up in the pace of the game," Ozark Coach Bret Nagel said. "Robinson is very athletic and they took us out of our game. I give them a lot of credit, but our girls have to learn to settle down and do a better job of taking care of the basketball."
Robinson, behind the efforts of Asia Anderson and Anna Gadison, got back into the game early in the second half. Anderson scored seven points and collected eight rebounds and Gadison scored five points and grabbed four rebounds in the third quarter.
Gadison finished with a team-high 15 points and nine rebounds. Anderson scored 11 points and grabbed 15 rebounds. Teammate Kristen Wilson added 13 points and nine rebounds.
"We came out not hitting our shots like we needed to," said Robinson Coach Clint Honnell, whose team was 4 of 12 from the floor in the first quarter and 6 of 26 in the first half. "That will affect any team. We've got to get to where we're hitting those shots early in the game."
Wilson and Gadison opened the fourth quarter with back-to-back two-pointers to pull the Lady Senators to within 46-41, but the Lady Hillbillies collected themselves and Robinson never pulled any closer.
Melton finished with nine rebounds, and Ladd led Ozark in steals with four. Celia Heffington scored nine points and grabbed a team-high 13 rebounds.
The game featured a combined 54 fouls and 68 free throws attempted. Robinson won the rebounding battle 44-42. Ozark hit 19 of 43 shots while Robinson was 16 of 64.
"We got out of our game plan and got rattled a little bit," Nagel said. "That's something I haven't seen out of this bunch. That's why we need to play teams like this. Hopefully, we'll improve in that area."
OZARK (68)
Shaffer 2 0-0 4, Heffington 2 5-8 9, Ladd 5 8-13 19, Ree 1 3-4 5, Melton 6 7-7 19, H. Ladd 1 1-3 4, McClellan 2 3-4 8. Totals 19 27-39 68.
ROBINSON (52)
N. Robinson 1 1-2 4, Alexander 2 3-4 9, Gadison 5 5-7 15, Anderson 3 5-11 11, A. Robinson 0 0-0 0, Jordan 0 0-0 0, K. Wilson 5 3-5 13, V. Wilson 0 0-0 0. Totals 16 17-29 52.
Ozark (17-3);19;16;11;22 -- 68
Robinson (14-3); 8; 9;20;15 -- 52
Three-point goals -- Ozark 3 (K. Ladd, H. Ladd, McClellan). Robinson 3 (Alexander 2, N. Robinson). Team fouls -- Ozark 24. Robinson 30. Fouled out -- Shaffer. Anderson, Jordan.
Sports on 01/17/2015