SUMMIT, Ky. - Now, that's a gut check.

Ironton was unable to hit from the field, trailed by 12 points in the fourth quarter, and its two leading scorers fouled out with a little more than a minute to play and down by seven.

No problem.

Mandi Boykin, Sarah Cartmell and Danielle Henderson picked up the slack along with Ciara Taylor and Shante Lewis as Ironton rallied to win 53-50 over the Lexington Christian Academy Lady Eagles Wednesday and claim third place in the Kentucky Fried Chicken/Pepsi Colonel Classic.

"We were in a position where we could easily have thrown in the towel, but we kept fighting and clawing. They made me a nervous wreck, but I'm just so proud of this bunch," Ironton coach Amy Hughes said.

The Lady Tigers (8-2) were just 4 of 19 from the field the first half but still found themselves tied 17-17 at the break as the defense limited LCA to 8 of 19 shooting and forcing 15 turnovers.

Despite its poor shooting, Ironton remained aggressive on offense and converted 9 of 15 at the line the first half.

"Our defense was outstanding. In fact, it was good the entire tournament. It's the best defense we've played all season," Hughes said. "But it was also our worst shooting games of the season and today was the worst.

"But even though we missed shots and forced shots and made bad passes, our defense made some big plays at the end and we hit our foul shots."

Ironton was 14 of 19 from the line in the fourth quarter. LCA connected on 12 of 18 at the line in the final quarter, but two crucial misses with 28 seconds left opened the door to the comeback.

After the missed foul shots, Cartmell took an inbounds pass and drove the length of the floor for a layup with 14 seconds to go that gave Ironton a 51-50 lead, its first advantage since 21-20 with 5:58 left in the third quarter.

The Lady Eagles missed a shot but got the ball back as Ironton knocked the rebound out of bounds. But Henderson stole the inbounds pass and was fouled with three seconds to play.

Henderson made both attempts for a 53-50 lead and Kayla Yates' 40-foot 3-point attempt hit the front of the rim and bounced away as the game ended.

"Cartmell did a great job taking the ball to the basket, Mandi hit some key shots down the stretch, and Danielle made two or three huge plays. Our foul shooting was critical and we came through. It was a good win against a very good team," Hughes said.

Rudmann led four players in double figures with 14. Hacker, an all-tournament selection, had 11 points and seven rebounds, Cartmell 10 points and eight rebounds, and Boykin 10 points and six steals.

Katie Brittain led LCA with 16 points and nine rebounds. Leah Anderson had 13 points and seven rebounds.

Lex. Christian981320-50

Ironton611531-53

LEXINGTON CHRISTIAN (5-6):

Emily London 0-4 (0-4) 3-6 3, Kayla Yates 2-3 (1-2) 0-2 5, Leah Anderson 4-5 (1-1) 4-4 13, Katie Brittain 3-7 (0-0) 10-12 16, Kirby Barnhart 1-5 (0-0) 5-6 7, Meredith Lynch 0-0 (0-0) 0-0 0, Jenny Bunge 2-4 (0-0) 0-0 4, Lora Gralheer 1-2 (0-0) 0-1 2, Autumn Riddle 0-1 (0-0) 0-0 0. Totals: 13-35

(2-7)

23-31

50. Fouls: 25. Fouled out: Brittain (1:05 4th), Barnhart (0:38 4th), Anderson (0:03 4th). Rebounds: 5-20=25 (Brittain 9, Anderson 7). Team/dead ball rebounds: 5. Assists: 5 (London 2). Steals: 7 (Anderson 3). Turnovers: 27. FG% – 37.1. FT% – 74.2. 3pt% – 28.6.

IRONTON (8-2):

Andrea Rudmann 3-10 (1-6) 7-8 14, Danielle Henderson 1-5 (0-0) 5-6 7, Mandi Boykin 5-12 (1-3) 1-2 10, Sarah Cartmell 2-4 (0-0) 6-10 10, Sara Hacker 2-11 (1-1) 6-10

11, Ciara Taylor 0-3 (0-0) 1-2 1, Shante' Lewis 0-0 (0-0) 0-0 0. Totals: 12-44

(3-10)

26-38

53. Fouls: 23. Fouled out: Hacker (1:15 4th), Rudmann (1:13 4th). Rebounds: 13-15=28 (Cartmell 8, Hacker 7, Taylor 5, Henderson 4). Assists: 2. Steals: 11 (Boykin 6, Hacker 3, Taylor 2). Turnovers: 20. FG% – 27.3. FT% – 68.4. 3pt% – 30.