After dispatching Dawson Springs with relative ease in two previous games this season, the UHA Lady Blazers surrendered a double-digit, third-quarter lead on the way to a 38-34 loss to the Lady Panthers on Thursday night. UHA won by 26 points at Dawson Springs before Christmas, before topping the Lady Panthers by 23 in the semifinals of the 2nd Region All-A tournament.
The Lady Blazers enter post-season play after losing 7 of their last 8 to stand at 13-13 overall. The Lady Panthers have won three-straight to close the regular season, improving to 12-16 on the year.
Alex Juckett scored 6 straight to start the game, before hitting 2 free throws with 25 seconds left in the first quarter to give the Lady Blazers an 8-4 lead.
Meghan Adams began to take over down low in the second quarter, controlling the backboard at both ends and scoring 5 points. Dawson Springs’ Erin Orten scored 4, but the Lady Panthers trailed 22-15 at the halftime break.
Neither team did much offensively in the third quarter, although a bucket by Lily Hendricks gave the Lady Blazers their first double-digit lead at 30-20 with just over a minute left in the quarter.
Dawson Springs began the final quarter on a 8-2 run, with UHA’s only points coming on a runner by Juckett. Leading by 2 with 3:00 to play, the Lady Blazers committed a foul and picked up a technical, with Orten knocking down 3 of 4 free throws to give the Lady Panthers their first lead at 33-32.
Adams scored down low to restore the 1-point UHA lead with 2:00 left, but those would be the last points for the Lady Blazers, as Dawson Springs closed on a 5-0 run to complete the come-from-behind victory. The Lady Panthers went 11-14 from the line over the final 8 minutes, with Orten shooting 6-8 and Kaylee Simpson hitting 3 of 4.
Orten’s 14 points led all scorers, joined in double figures for the Lady Panthers by Brooklyn Clark with 10. Simpson scored 6 of her 7 in the second half.
Juckett was the only Lady Blazer in double figures with 13. Adams finished with 9, and Hendricks had 8.
