by Travis Connelley
MERIDIAN — The Lady Bears set the tone early on Monday night and never let up, topping the host Meridian Lady Eagles, 73-57.
After the game, Lady Bear head coach Brent Harris said that his defense made a difference in the contest.
“I wanted to start aggressive and kind of press a little bit, about as much as we can,” he said. “We did some good stuff on the defensive end tonight.”
In addition, he praised his team for reaching the 20-win mark. “I told them that twenty wins is a big deal,” he said. “That is kind of a benchmark in basketball. It means a lot to me. We played a pretty tough schedule and challenged ourselves outside of conference. I am proud of the 20 wins.”
Early on, the Lady Bears (20-6, 11-2 MACCC) displayed a balanced scoring attack with five different players contributing with scores on the offensive end. Three-pointers were also key as Southwest connected on four in the first quarter alone, half of which came from Veronica Williams.
“The defense collapsed in on the post. When they go inside, it sets up open shots for me and I just found the hole,” said Williams who had a team-high 24 points.
On the other end of the floor, the Southwest defense presented problems for Meridian all night long. Not only did the Lady Bears have the size advantage but they displayed a more aggressive attack and it paid dividends as they raced out to a 24-15 lead at the end of the first quarter.
It was more of the same in the second quarter with both teams posting 14 points as Southwest took a 38-29 lead at the half.
Through most of the third quarter, both teams went back-and-forth trading baskets. But with about 3:00 to go in the period and Southwest holding a 49-37 lead, the Lady Bears offense began to get into rhythm. A 12-3 run with 10 of those points coming from Williams, pushed the Lady Bears further away from the Lady Eagles as Southwest took a 57-40 lead heading into the final 10:00 of play.
Williams continued her hot shooting in the fourth with two more 3-pointers as she was complemented by three field goals from Bethany Graves and baskets each from Kara Beth Addison and Kalea Storm as the Lady Bears pulled away and rode off with the win.
