LUCASVILLE — Once the temperature reached the boiling point, the Chesapeake Lady Panthers began to melt.

The Lynchburg Clay Lady Panthers continued pressure forced 51 turnovers in a 62-32 win over the Lady Panthers Monday in the Division III sectional tournament.

“They turned the heat up and we didn’t handle it,” Chesapeake coach John McClung said. “When they began to speed the game up, we started to have our problems.”

Chesapeake was guilty of 26 turnovers in the first half, yet only trailed 25-20 at intermission.

“We were fortunate the first half because we didn’t handle their pressure well,” McClung said.

Sarah Rucker, a 6-foot-3 junior center, tried to keep Chesapeake in the game with 16 of her team’s 20 first half points.

After trailing 16-8 at the end of the first quarter, Chesapeake cut the deficit to three points on two occasions

including a layup by Rucker with 2:20 left in the half that made it 23-20. Two foul shots by Kara Chalfin put Lynchburg up 25-20.

But 18 turnovers in the third quarter erased Chesapeake’s chances. They were only 1 of 3 from the field

and scored just two points in the quarter. Lynchburg outscored Chesapeake 28-2 in the quarter to pull away to a 52-22 lead.

Lynchburg emptied its bench to start the quarter but coach Linda Hatten returned her starters with four minutes to play and a 55-20 lead ballooned to 62-28.

Rucker finished with 22 points, five rebounds and three blocked shots for Chesapeake, 5-16.

Heather Stagge scored 25 points and Felicia Croy 15 to pace Lynchburg.

Chesapeake812210=32

Lynchburg169289=62

CHESAPEAKE (5-16): Rachel Harris 1-5 (0-0) 2-2 4, Paige Nelson 0-0 (0-0) 0-0 0, Susan Jaime 0-1 (0-0) 0-0 0, Tasha England 3-5 (0-0) 0-1 6, Sarah Rucker 10-14 (0-0) 2-5 22, Holly Black 0-0 (0-0) 0-0 0, Nikki Lindsey 0-0 (0-0) 0-0 0, Stephanie Sizemore 0-0 (0-0) 0-0 0. Totals: 14-25

(0-0) 4-8

32. Fouls: 9. Fouled out: Nelson (4th 5:14). Rebounds: 4-20=24 (Black 7, Rucker 5). Team/deadball rebounds: 6. Assists: 10 (Nelson 3, Harris 2). Steals: 4 (England 2). Turnovers: 51. Blocked shots: 3 (Rucker 3).

LYNCHBURG CLAY (18-3): Dani Mount 1-4 (1-4) 0-0 3, Felicia Croy 6-7 (3-3) 0-0 15, Lauren King 1-4 (0-0) 2-4 4, Kara Chalfin 2-10 (0-1) 2-2 6, Heather Stagge 10-23 (2-5) 3-3 25, Wendy Martin 2-10 (1-4) 0-0 5, Desarae Mount 1-3 (0-1) 0-0 2, Amber Smith 0-4 (0-2) 0-0 0, Kelsey Lewis 1-2 (0-0) 0-0 2, Jamie Davidson 0-1 (0-0) 0-0 0. Totals: 24-68

(7-20)

7-9

62. Fouls: 12. Fouled out: None. Rebounds: 15-10=25 (King 6, Stagge 4, Chalfin 4). Team/deadball rebounds: 1. Assists: 5 (Croy 2). Steals: 30 (Croy 9, Chalfin 9). Turnovers: 17.