CHESAPEAKE - The big girl came up big.

Sarah Rucker, Chesapeake's 6-foot-3 junior center, poured in 27 points to lead the Lady Panthers to a 50-33 win over the Ohio Valley Christian Lady Defenders Thursday.

Rucker also had 12 rebounds and seven blocked shots as Chesapeake evened its record at 1-1.

&#8220We did a little better handling the ball. We moved Rachel Harris to the point and she's getting better,” Lady Panthers coach John McClung said.

&#8220When we got the ball on our side of the court, we just went to Sarah and they couldn't stop her.”

Brittany Sowards added 8 points for the Lady Panthers.

OVC senior Sarah Jenkins scored a career-high 21 points.

Chesapeake took a 12-8 lead after the first quarter. Rucker had eight points in the second quarter as the lead grew to 26-14.

The Defenders cut the deficit to 34-24 after three quarters, but Rucker got 9 points in the fourth quarter as the Lady Panthers continued to pull away.

Ohio Valley86109=33

Chesapeake1214816=50

OHIO VALLEY CHRISTIAN (0-2):

Richelle Blankenship 0 0 2-8 2, Kallee Edmonds 1 0 1-3 3, Sarah Jenkins 7 0 7-10 21, Kristi Davis 2 0 3-5 7. Totals: 10

0

13-26

33. Fouls: 12. Fouled out: None.

CHESAPEAKE (1-1):

Rachel Harris 2 0 0-1 4, Holly Black 1 0 0-0 2, Paige Nelson 2 0 1-2 5, Tasha England 2 0 0-0 4, Brittany Sowards 2 0 4-5 8, Sarah Rucker 12 0 3-5 27. Totals: 21 0

8-13

50. Fouls: 21. Fouled out: Sowards.