CHESAPEAKE - When times get tough, the Chesapeake Lady Panthers turn to their defense.

And when they

turned Thursday, the defense was more than ready for the challenge as the Lady Panthers beat the Fairland Lady Dragons 38-27 in an Ohio Valley Conference game.

"We did an outstanding job playing defense. They only had six 2s. (Veronica) Perko and (Candace) Dickerson did a good job handling the ball. The girls face-guarded (Brianna) Davis all night. It was a great team effort," Chesapeake coach John McClung said.

Sara Rucker led Chesapeake (2-5, 1-1) with 12 points, eight rebounds and 10 blocked shots. Brittany Sowards had 10 points and 10 rebounds and Brittany Boyle added 11 points.

Davis led Fairland (1-4, 0-2) with 16 points.

"Fairland is skilled enough to make the shots, but our defense played well. It was a pretty intense game," McClung said. "It was a big game for us. We need to win this one. We don't want to fall out of the league race early."

Fairland was up 8-6 after the first quarter, but Boyle scored 9 points in the second quarter as Chesapeake took a 21-14 halftime lead.

Rucker had 4 points in the third quarter as the lead went to 27-18.

The Lady Panthers converted 7 of 9 from the foul line in the fourth quarter with Sowards making 4 of 4 and Noelle Wood and Boyle each going 2 for 2.

Fairland8649-27

Chesapeake615611-38

FAIRLAND (1-4, 0-2):

Brianna Davis 4 0 8-11 16, Megan Auxier 1 0 1-4 3, Shay Berry 0 0 3-4 3, Kara Riley 0 0 3-7 3, Ericka Smoot 0 0 1-2 1, Jennifer Legg 0 0 0-0

0, Molly Bumgardner 0 0 0-0 0, Jodie Waugh 0-0 0-0 0-0, Kacie Lydell 0 0 0-0 0., Kristen Berry 0 0 0-0 0. Totals: 6 0 15-23

38. Fouls: 18. Fouled out: None.

CHESAPEAKE (2-5, 1-1):

Candace Dickerson 0 0 0-1 0, Veronica Perko 0 0 0-0 0, Brittany Boyle 2 1 4-6 11, Noelle Wood 1 0 2-2 4, Alysson Baise 0 0 1-2 1, Joanna Delimpo 0 0 0-0 0, Brittany Sowards 3 0 4-6 10, Sara Rucker 6 0 0-0 12. Totals: 12

1

11-17

38. Fouls: 19. Fouled out: None. Turnovers: 23. Rebounds: 33 (Sowards 10, Rucker 8, Baise 5).

Assists: 8 (Sowards 3). Steals: 6 (Wood 3, Sowards 3). Blocked shots: 11 (Rucker 10).