The Russellville Lady Panthers won their second straight game Monday, beating Warren East 57-53 in overtime in Bowling Green.
They had beaten Butler County 43-32 last Tuesday, also on the road. In fact, three of their four wins have come away from home.
Sophomore Loreal Cheaney scored 29 points, including a dozen in the fourth quarter and in overtime, against East. Junior Davonya Bryant carried the load in the first half, getting 14 of her 20 points in the first 16 minutes.
Jolanda Wells and Denise Stovall added three points each with Addie Hendley getting two.
Bryant and Cheaney also carried the offensive load in the win at Morgantown. Bryant hit 8 of 12 field goal attempts and 3 of 4 free throws on the way to 20 points. Cheaney scored 19 points. Bryant had 9 rebounds, Cheaney 7, and Tiffany Gray 4. Hendley added 2 points with Victoria Day and Wells adding 1 each.
The Lady Panthers’ defense was tough, holding Coach Brian Bivens’ Lady Bears to just 32 points on 8 of 65 shooting (12.3 percent) from the field. Contributing to that defense were Carleigh Phillips, Alissa Kennedy and Stovall.
Allie Easley scored 11 for Butler with Maddie Murphy getting 10 rebounds and Addison Hall 8.
“We are very proud of the competitive spirit in our girls right now,” Head tells The LoJo. “We still have a tough stretch ahead for the duration of our season, but what we have seen in the past two games shows that we are heading in the right direction.
“We are young, but we are not writing off the end of the season because of youth and inexperience. We want to prepare ourselves as much as possible for the district tournament, and we are taking each game one by one to do just that.
“We are excited about the future of Lady Panther Basketball!”