The Lady Tigers followed up their best shooting performance of the year with one of their worst, dropping a conference road game to Willard, 53-46. Republic made just three three-point field goals all night – one of them after the game was out of reach – after making 13 threes against Jefferson City over the weekend.
Despite their cold shooting performance, Republic remained in the game throughout. The Lady Tigers jumped ahead 15-9 by the end of the first quarter, and they led 28-25 at halftime, thanks mostly to freshman Kaemyn Bekemeier’s 16-point first half. Bekemeier made the only three-pointer of the half for Republic.
In the second half, the Lady Tigers tried to work the ball to Bekemeier in the paint, but Willard’s extra attention on her forced Republic to find offense elsewhere. For the most part, that other offense failed to materialize Tuesday. Willard outscored Republic 13-8 in the third quarter to take the lead, and pulled away in the fourth quarter to hand Republic its second Central Ozark Conference loss of the season.
Bekemeier finished with 28 points to lead all scorers. No other Republic player scored in double figures.
Republic falls to 13-8, and Willard is now 13-8, as well.
Republic scoring: Kaemyn Bekemeier 28, Jazzy Kirby 6, Regan Holmes 3, Delaney Smith 3, Carle Ward 2, Jade Kirby 2, Savana Powell-Goodman 2