CHESAPEAKE — There were a lot of things the Chesapeake Lady Panthers didn’t play with in Monday’s game, but there was one player who did play.

Despite a sluggish performance, the Lady Panthers still managed a 39-34 win over the River Valley Lady Raiders behind senior center Sarah Rucker.

The 6-foot-3 Rucker scored 18 points as the Lady Panthers improved to 8-5 overall and 3-3 in the Ohio Valley Conference.

“We just didn’t play with any emotion,” Chesapeake coach John McClung said. “We didn’t play well, but River Valley played better than the first time we played them. We were fortunate to score some big points down the stretch.”

Courtney Heffner and Rucker had 4 points each in the first quarter as Chesapeake took an 11-8 lead, but the Lady Raiders came back to tie the game 17-17 at the half.

Holly Black scored all 6 of her points in the third quarter to give the Lady Panthers a 28-27 lead.

Rucker then took over with 7 points in the fourth quarter including two key baskets over the final minute of play as the Lady Panthers got the win.

“We didn’t play well, but Sarah took over and hit the shots we needed with the game on the line,” McClung said.

Heffner grabbed 8 rebounds to go with 8 points. Rucker had 6 rebounds and 4 blocked shots. Black handed out 5 assists and Lexy Staton got 5 steals.

Brooke Taylor led River Valley (1-11, 0-6) with 10 points.

On Thursday, Chesapeake will attempt to keep its flickering OVC title hopes alive with a trip to Rock Hill.

River Valley returns home to play co-OVC leader South Point.

River Valley891011=34

Chesapeake1161111=39

RIVER VALLEY (1-11, 0-6): Rachel Walburn 0 0 1-2 1, Courtney Circle 0 0 1-2 1, Iliana Corfias 0 0 1-2 1, Kirsten Carter 2 0 2-4 6, Kayla Smith 3 0 3-5 9, McKenzie Cluxon 1 0 0-0 2, Brooke Taylor 5 0 0-2 10, Margo Fraley 1 0 2-2 4. Totals: 12

0

10-19

34. Fouls: 12. Fouled out: None.

CHESAPEAKE (8-5, 3-3): Holly Black 3 0 0-0 6, Courtney Heffner 3 0 2-2 8, Katie Bennett 1 0 0-0 2, Lexy Staton 1 1 0-2 5, Sarah Rucker 7 0 4-6 18, Allison Chapman 0 0 0-0 0. Totals: 15

1

6-10

39. Fouls: 14. Fouled out: None. Turnovers: 14. Rebounds: 26 (Heffner 8, Rucker 6). Assists: 11 (Black 5). Steals: 6 (Staton 5). Blocked shots: 6 (Rucker 4).