Finally, a good third quarter. And the others weren't too shabby, either.

Sluggish third quarters have plagued the Ironton Lady Fighting Tigers this season. But there was no problem Wednesday night as Ironton blitzed the Gallipolis Blue Angels 56-32.

Leading by 15 at the half, Ironton outscored Gallipolis 18-6 in the third quarter and led by as many as 34 points in winning its regular season finale.

"We've been making a concerned effort to play with more intensity in the third quarter and the past two or three games we've been able to do that," Ironton coach Amy Hughes said.

After shooting just 30 percent in a win on Monday, Ironton was 22 of 49 for 45 percent. The Lady Tigers also dominated the boards as they had 40 rebounds to just 16 for Gallipolis.

The Lady Fighting Tigers also had 14 assists and 15 steals.

"Overall, this was one of our better games," Hughes said. "We did a good job defensively, especially against their 6-foot-4 girl (Kari James). We passed the ball well and, obviously, we shot it a whole lot better."

Andrea Rudmann led Ironton with 18 points. Sara Hacker had 16 points, nine rebounds, fives assists and five steals.

Daniele Henderson added 10 points while Mandi Boykin had nine rebounds, eight steals and four assists.

Jackie Wamsley scored 15 for Gallipolis (8-11).

Ironton got off to a 6-0 lead and never trailed.

The lead was 12-7 at the end of the first quarter and went to 22-7 with 3:25 left in the half on a layup by Henderson.

A short jumper by Boykin just before the half put Ironton up 28-13 at the half.

Then came the productive third quarter as Rudmann scored eight points, including a pair of 3-pointers. One of those 3-pointer came with 3:45 on the clock to make it 40-19. Hacker followed with a layup, Boykin had a steal and layup and Henderson's short baseline jumper with 14 seconds in the half put Ironton up 46-19.

A short jumper by Rudman with 4:15 to play gave Ironton its biggest lead at 55-21.

The reserves finished up as Gallipolis scored nine of 13 points.

Ironton finishes the regular season 15-4. The Lady Fighting Tigers will play at 2:45 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 21, against the Peebles/Portsmouth West winner in the sectional finals at Lucasville Valley.

Gallipolis76613-32

Ironton12161810-56

GALLIPOLIS (8-11):

Jackie Wamsley 6-13 (3-6) 0-3 15, Tiffany Sanders 0-5 (0-1) 0-0 0, Lindsay Caldwell 0-2 (0-0) 1-2 1, Katlin Maher 2-8 (0-0) 0-0 4, Kayla Perry 2-5 (0-0) 0-0 4, Felicia Close 1-3 (0-0) 0-0 2. Totals: 14-43

(3-7)

1-6

55. Fouls: 12. Fouled out: None. Rebounds: 3-13=16 James 4, Caldwell 4). Team/dead ball rebounds: 6. Assists: 4 (Sanders 2). Steals: 12 (Maher 4, Perry 3). Turnovers: 22. FG%- 32.6. FT%- 16.7. 3pt%-42.9.

IRONTON (15-4):

Andrea Rudmann 6-10 (2-3) 4-4 18, Danielle Henderson 5-11 (0-0) 0-0 10, Mandi Boykin 3-6 (0-1) 1-2 7, Sarah Cartmell 1-5 (0-0) 2-4 4, Sara Hacker 7-15 (1-3) 1-2 16, Shante' Lewis 0-0 (0-0) 0-0 0, Rachel Walker 0-0 (0-0) 0-0 0, Chelsea Cleary 0-2 (0-0) 0-0 0, Tennielle Young 0-0 (0-0) 1-2 0, Krista Markel 0-0 (0-0) 0-0 0, Nikki Harbolt 0-0 (0-0) 0-0 0. Totals: 22-49

(3-7)

9-14

56.

Fouls: 14. Fouled out: None. Rebounds: 13-27=40 (Hacker 9, Boykin 9). Team/dead ball rebounds; None. Assists: 14 (Hacker 5, Boykin 4, Rudmann 3). Steals: 15 (Boykin 8, Hacker 5). Turnovers: 22. FG%- 44.9. FT%-64.3. 3pt%- 42.9.