Republic used a decisive 10–0 run midway through the fourth quarter to break open a close game and defeat Rolla 45–38 Monday night. After playing to a 27–27 draw through three quarters, the Lady Tigers outscored Rolla 18–11 in the final period to secure their 10th win of the season.
The game was tight throughout, featuring four ties and five lead changes. Rolla led 9–8 after the first quarter, but Republic took a 20–17 lead into halftime. In the third quarter, Rolla’s Mariah Watkins helped the Lady Bulldogs regain control, and the teams entered the fourth quarter deadlocked.
Addie Brown opened the fourth quarter with a three-pointer to put Republic ahead 30–27. After the teams traded baskets, Rolla cut the lead to 33–31 on a bucket by Bella Campbell, but the Lady Tigers responded with their biggest surge of the night.
Josie Stalzer hit a three-pointer to extend the lead to 36–31. Paelyn Gilmore followed with a two-point basket and a three-pointer on back-to-back possessions, and Brown added another score to cap a 10–0 run that made it 43–31.
“We had a couple of little runs there in the fourth quarter and got the momentum a little bit,” said coach Tori Mooneyham. “Rolla wasn’t ever able to recover. Late in the game, (when) you’re going into the fourth quarter tight, I think the team that gets that run has the higher chance of winning the game.”
Despite the strong finish, Mooneyham said the team needs to improve its consistency on the defensive end.
“We had another night where we struggled defensively. I know to people watching, it looks like our offense is struggling at times, and it is, but the part that’s frustrating is a little bit of the defense,” Mooneyham said. “I think we gave up some easy shots, and those are things that we can fix and need to fix.”
Brown led Republic with 13 points, including three three-pointers. Cora Cutbirth finished with 12 points.
After a tough first half, Watkins rebounded and kept Rolla close in the second. She led all scorers with 17 points for Rolla.
“We’ve got to quit just surviving games and going in and taking care of business from the start,” Mooneyham said, “but we’ll keep learning from it, and it was a win. We’ve got three tough ones this week at Nixa. So all we can do is continue to build and try to get better.”
Republic improves to 10–3. Rolla falls to 9–6.
Score by Quarters
Rolla 9-8-10-11-38
Republic 8-12-7-18-45
Individual Scoring
Addie Brown 13, Cora Cutbirth 12, Paelyn Gilmore 9, Josie Stalzer 7, Kinley Kilburn 4
Get every story delivered.
Tiger Wire — Republic sports news, free every morning.