The Washington Lady Blue Lions welcomed the Chillicothe Lady Cavaliers to town for a Frontier Athletic Conference game Saturday, Jan. 18.
The Lady Lions defeated Chillicothe, 43-33.
The teams split the season series, as the Lady Cavs beat Washington on Dec. 11, 54-47.
Washington senior Shawna Conger was the game’s leading scorer with 18 points. She also led Washington with seven rebounds, seven steals and three assists.
Senior Halli Wall scored six points and sophomore Aaralyne Estep scored six.
Wall, sophomore Jeleeya Tyree-Smith and freshman Kendall Dye each had five rebounds.
Senior Shawnice Smith led Chillicothe with nine points.
Senior Julia Hall added seven points.
“I thought, especially towards the end, that we did a great job just playing their personnel,” Washington head coach Samantha Leach said. “Knowing their tendencies on offense. We were able to get a lot of steals when they tried to force the ball inside to Smith. We did a great job just recognizing that.
“We were patient with the ball on offense and that was huge,” Leach said. “We were able to put together four solid quarters today. Overall, it was a great team effort; everyone contributed. We’re excited to bounce back.”
Leach was referring to a 45-41 loss at Hillsboro on Wednesday.
“Hillsboro was a rough game for us,” Leach said. “We didn’t have any energy. We had a few kids that were sick, but, I don’t want to take any credit away from them. They knocked down a lot of outside shots. We were something like 4 of 27 from the three-point line.
“We were struggling to find the bucket,” Leach said. “Defensively, we just made too many mistakes. We’re glad to bounce back today.”
Chillicothe took a 6-0 lead in the game.
Washington got on the board when Conger scored with 3:52 remaining in the first period.
That was the beginning of a 10-0 run to vault the Lady Lions into the lead, 10-6.
Conger scored again near the end of the quarter to put her team in front, 12-9.
It was a very good defensive game for Washington as Chillicothe was held to single digits in scoring in each quarter.
The Lady Lions had their lowest output of the game with six points in the second quarter to eight for Chillicothe as Washington took an 18-17 lead at the end of the first half.
The Lady Cavs took what would be their last lead of the game, 19-18, with 7:25 to play in the third quarter.
Back-to-back buckets by Wall gave Washington a 22-19 lead.
Chillicothe scored to make it 22-21 with 3:55 to play in the third.
Conger scored two more baskets and freshman Megan Sever scored to put the Lady Lions in front, 28-21.
At the end of three complete, Washington held a 28-24 lead.
Six different players scored for the Lady Lions in the fourth quarter.
When Shawnice Smith hit two free throws, Chillicothe was once more just one point behind the Lady Lions, 31-30 with 5:16 left in the game.
Tyree-Smith scored, freshman Kendall Dye hit two baskets, Estep hit two free throws, freshman Natalie Woods scored and Wall made two from the line for Washington.
Chillicothe closed out the scoring to set the final margin at 43-33.
Washington (8-8 overall, 3-5 FAC) will host the No. 1 team in the state in Division II, Circleville, Wednesday at 6 p.m.
Chillicothe is now 4-3 in the FAC.
Also on Saturday, Hillsboro defeated Jackson, 41-24.
SCORE BY QUARTERS
W 12 6 10 15 — 43
C 9 8 7 9 — 33
WASHINGTON — Allie Mongold 0-0-0; Aaralyne Estep 2-2-6; Kaelin Pfeifer 0-0-0; Kendall Dye 2-0-4; Jeleeya Tyree-Smith 1 (1)-0-5; Abby Tackage 0-0-0; Natalie Woods 1-0-2; Halli Wall 2-2-6; Shawna Conger 5 (1)-5-18; Megan Sever 1-0-2. TOTALS — 14 (2)-9-43. Free throw shooting: 9 of 13 for 69 percent. Three-point field goals: Tryee-Smith, Conger. Field goal shooting: 16 of 52 for 31 percent. Turnovers: 7. Rebounds: 30 (10 offensive). Steals: 9. Assists: 7. Charges taken: Dye, Tyree-Smith.
CHILLICOTHE — Zoe Ford 1-1-3; Julia Hall 0 (2)-1-7; Jacey Harding 2-0-4; Aries Barnes 1-1-3; Alysia Cunningham 0-1-1; Shawnice Smith 3-3-9; Avery Erslan 2-2-6; Paige Huggins 0-0-0. TOTALS — 9 (2)-9-33. Free throw shooting: 9 of 16 for 56 percent. Three-point field goals: Hall, 2. Field goal shooting: 11 of 32 for 34 percent. Turnovers: 12.
