The Nocona Lady Indians faced a tough test on Tuesday at home playing state-ranked 5A Rider.
The bigger Lady Raiders pulled away in the second half on their way to a 66-40 win.
Rider was coming into the game following a first place finish at the Fantasy of Lights Tournament, led by athletic post player Jalynn Bristow who scored a school record 44 points and grabbed 29 rebounds in the title game.
The Lady Indians knew they had to close off the post and make passes to Bristow in the post as hard as possible. A help defender was always near and ready to pounce on either the pass or help contest on the shot.
Early in the game that was enough as the team limited her to nine points while no one else from the Lady Raiders were really looking to score much.
On the other end Nocona players were hesitant to go into the lane against Bristow. Rider was sitting back in a two-three zone and the Lady Indians elected to chuck open 3-pointers in the half court.
Only three went in all game which was more of a problem in the second half.
Nocona had more success scoring by pushing the ball in transition and trying to scramble and get offensive rebounds.
The Lady Raiders led only 22-16 going into halftime.
Early in the third quarter proved to be the end for the Lady Indians. Rider’s Steffanie Mock started taking and making open 3-pointers in bunches. She made four in the quarter and a school record six in the game. This opened things up inside for Bristow, who also started pushing the ball in transition herself for scoring opportunities. She finished with 21 points.
The low scoring game that was favoring Nocona since it was having trouble consistently scoring was now blown wide open.
A double-digit lead that was only growing bigger opened up as Rider scored 29 points in the third quarter. The Lady Raiders led 51-25 heading into the fourth quarter.
Nocona scored its most points in the final period playing to the final whistle. The team stopped being hesitant and attacked the rim both in the half court and in transition, getting to the free throw line 13 times during the quarter after drawing only six attempts in the first three quarters.
It wasn’t enough to make the final score close 66-40, but it was better than it was at certain points.
Stephanie Gutierrez was the only player who finished in double-figures scoring 13 points. Megyn Meekins and Skyler Smith were second scoring eight points each.

To read the full story, pick up a copy of the weekend edition of the Bowie News.