By MATT KING\Daily Journal Sports Writer

Published: Wednesday, March 09, 2005
Updated: Wednesday, March 9, 2005 12:05 PM CST

POPLAR BLUFF -- The Mineral Area College women's basketball team has managed to play most of its opponents tough despite being short-handed throughout this season, but was simply overmatched at Three Rivers on Tuesday night.

The Lady Cardinals forced 17 turnovers with a strong defensive effort in the first half, but could not contain the depth and offensive firepower of the Lady Raiders in the second stanza, suffering a season-ending 76-50 loss in the first round of the Region XVI Tournament.

Three Rivers (20-11) dominated the action near the basket as post players Missy Whitney and Emmertentia Ledwaba scored most of their 20 and 13 points, respectively in the paint. The Lady Raiders also held a decisive 33-18 advantage in rebounds.

MAC (14-15) scored first and held its lone lead of the night on a transition basket by sophomore Alycea Wallace, who scored 12 points in the game, but lob passes to Whitney and Ledwaba on back-to-back possessions capped a 6-0 run which propelled the Lady Raiders to an early 10-5 advantage.

Despite playing with a recent injury to her foot, Anna Brisso scored a team-high 15 points for the Lady Cardinals including an early mid-range jumper to trim the margin to three. However, Three Rivers quickly widened it to 16-7 on a strong three-point play inside by Whitney.

Erica Hankins and Sarah Dietiker drilled three-pointers on consecutive trips to again bring MAC to within three, but the Lady Cardinals proceeded to go scoreless over the next six-plus minutes.

The Lady Raiders opened up a 10-point lead as sharp passing helped Jordanna Walk connect on a wide-open three, and would carry a 27-19 spread into halftime. Walk hit four triples overall and scored 16 points.

Robin Sane kept the difference in single digits with an offensive putback for the Lady Cards early in the second half, but another three from Walk increased the MAC deficit to 39-26.

After back-to-back field goals from Wallace kept the Lady Cardinals in contention at 45-35 with 12:36 left, Three Rivers put the game out of reach with an emphatic 14-0 scoring rally. Omega Key flashed to the basket for a driving layup, and Walk buried two straight threes as the margin ballooned to 59-35.

MAC suffered yet another setback down the stretch when Hankins left the game with an apparent knee injury, limiting the roster to six active players. Three Rivers went on to build its largest cushion of 28 points during the final minute.

Three Rivers will play top-seeded Jefferson College on Friday.

Mineral Area - 19 31 - 50

Three Rivers - 27 49 - 76

SCORING:

Mineral Area - A Brisso 15, A Wallace 12, R Sane 6, S Dietiker 6, E Hankins 6, E Anderson 3, M Pollard 2.

3-pointers - S Dietiker 2, E Hankins 2, A Brisso 1.

Three Rivers - M Whitney 20, J Walk 16, E Ledwaba 13, O Key 8, R Cook 6, A Redus 4, H Burleson 4, A Lance 3, E McCrackin 2.

3-pointers - J Walk 4, R Cook 2, M Whitney 1, A Lance 1.