Lady Fighting Tigers muscle past Lady Red Devils, 57-43

Published 12:00 am Thursday, January 20, 2005

They are the chameleons.

No matter what the other team's style, the Ironton Lady Fighting Tigers have been able to adapt. They adjusted to the Russell Lady Red Devils' physical style Monday as they posted a 57-43 win.

"Russell was a very good team and a very physical team," Ironton coach Amy Hughes said. "Our girls played tough with them. There's always teams like that in the tournament, so we need to know how to play against teams like Russell."

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Ironton's Sara Hacker had a game-high 19 points including 13 of 17 from the foul line, 7 of 8 in the fourth quarter when Russell was forced to foul.

Andrea Rudmann had 14 points, Danielle Henderson grabbed seven rebounds and Mandi Boykin had five assists for Ironton, now 16-1.

Christina Williams led Russell (11-7) with 16 points including four 3-pointers. Christen Daniels had seven rebounds and Chinwe Okoro six.

After Russell opened up a 10-4 lead to start the game, Rudmann scored 6 points and Jessica Waddle hit a baseline jumper to get Ironton within 13-12 at the end of the first quarter.

Rudmann hit a 3-pointer to start the second quarter and give Ironton its first lead at 15-13. Williams hit a 3-pointer with 3:57 left in the half to put Russell back on top at 18-17 and after four lead changes Hacker sank the first of two foul shots with 11 seconds left and it was 22-22 at the half.

Two more foul shots by Hacker gave Ironton the lead for good at 32-30 with 2:19 left in the third quarter. Hacker's 12-footer from the baseline made it 36-32 at the end of the quarter.

Boykin's layup pushed the lead to 40-32 but Russell cut the deficit to 40-37 on a 3-pointer by Samantha Sparks with 5:42 left.

Waddle's layup off a steal by Boykin put Ironton ahead 46-39 with 3:49 to play. Jessica Fortman made two foul shots to get Russell within 46-41, but Hacker began her parade to the foul line as she sank 7 of 8 free throws over the final 2:30 and Boykin and Waddle hit two each to seal the win.

In the reserve game, Russell won 20-18. Kayla Wileman had 8 points for Ironton.

Russell1391011-43

Ironton12101421-57

RUSSELL (11-7):

Christina Williams 5-14 (4-12) 2-3 16, Samantha Sparks 2-5 (2-4) 0-0 6, Jessica Fortman 2-6 (0-0) 2-2 6, Christen Daniels 2-5 (0-0) 1-2 5, Chinwe Okoro 2-8 (0-0) 2-2 6, Stephanie Menshouse 2-4 (0-1) 0-0 4, Megan Moore 0-1 (0-1) 0-0 0, Kacie Christian 0-1 (0-1) 0-0 0, Marissa Adkins 0-0 (0-0) 0-0 0, Kelsey Simpson (0-0 (0-0) 0-0 0, Sarah Dumbaugh 0-0 (0-0) 0-0 0. Totals: 15-44

(6-17)

7-9

43. Fouls: 22. Fouled out: Daniels, Okoro. Rebounds: 9-15=24 (Daniels 7, Okoro 6). Team/deadball rebounds: 5. Assists: 6 (Williams 2, Sparks 2). Steals: 8 (Fortman 2). Turnovers: 17.

IRONTON (16-1):

Andrea Rudmann 6-10 (2-5) 0-1 14, Danielle Henderson 2-4 (0-0) 2-3 6, Mandi Boykin 2-9 (0-0) 2-2 6, Sarah Cartmell 1-2 (0-0) 2-2 4, Sara Hacker 3-6 (0-0) 13-17 19, Ciara Taylor 0-1 (0-0) 0-0 0, Jessica Waddle 3-5 (0-0) 2-2 8, Rachel Walker 0-0 (0-0) 0-0 0, Chelsea Cleary 0-0 (0-0) 0-0 0, Sami Morgan 0-0 (0-0) 0-0 0, Kayla Wileman 0-0 (0-0) 0-0 0, Ashley Moritz 0-0 (0-0) 0-0 0. Totals: 17-37

(2-5)

21-27

57. Fouls: 13. Fouled out: None. Rebounds: 8-17=25 (Henderson 8, Hacker 7). Team/deadball rebounds: 3. Assists: 6 (Boykin 5). Steals: 12 (Boykin 3, Taylor 3). Turnovers: 12.