Jim Walker
jim.walker@irontontribune.com

PORTSMOUTH — Here’s an alphabet equation: D+B+T=W.
For the Rock Hill Redwomen, defense plus a balanced offense plus teamwork equals win as they used all those elements to beat the Portsmouth Lady Trojans 46-23 in an Ohio Valley Conference game on Wednesday.
Rock Hill (5-14, 4-7) got strong defensive performances from Aleigha Matney and Emma Scott while Hope Easterling, Hadyn Bailey and Scott all scored 12 points to produce the win.
“I can’t say enough about the defensive effort of Aleigha Matney and Emma Scott. They’ve been work on their defense really hard,” said Rock Hill coach Eric Bailey.
“Portsmouth started off shooting really well. We made some adjustments and those two went into lock down and shut down their top two scorers.”
Bailey was also pleased with three players in double figures.
“It’s nice to see three players with 12 points each. We shared the ball and executed the offense. We also got great efforts from MaKenzie Hanshaw and Jaina Bailey. It was a total team effort. I couldn’t be prouder of our effort.”
Emily Cheatham had 9 points and Ayonna Carr 8 for Portsmouth (1-9, 0-9). Two weeks ago, Cheatham had 19 points and Nia Trinidad had 15 against Rock Hill. Trinidad was held to 2 points this time.
The game was tied 11-all after the first quarter, Hadyn Bailey and Easerling hit 3-pointers for Rock Hill while Cheatham had a pair of 3-pointers and Carr another.
Four different players scored as Rock Hill went up 20-17 at the half.
But the defense held Portsmouth to just 2 points in the third quarter and 4 in the fourth quarter to win going away.
Scott drained a pair of 3-pointers and had 8 points in the third quarter for a 34-19 lead.
Hadyn Bailey had 6 points and Easterling 4 as Rock Hill continued to pull away.
Rock Hill hosts Gallipolis on Thursday.
Rock Hill 11 9 14 12 = 46
Portsmouth 11 6 2 4 = 23
ROCK HILL (5-14, 4-7): Aleigha Matney 3 0 0-1 6, Hadyn Bailey 4 1 1-3 12, Emma Scott 3 2 0-0 12, Hope Easterling 6 0 0-1 12, Jaina Bailey 0 0 0-0 0, MaKenzie Hanshaw 2 0 0-0 4. Totals: 18 3 1-5 46. Fouls: 7. Fouled out: None.
PORTSMOUTH (1-9, 0-9): Emily Cheatham 0 3 0-0 9, Nia Trinidad 1 0 0-0 2, Sydney Meadows 0 0 0-0 0, Bre Wilson 0 0 0-0 0, Lexi Potts 1 0 0-0 2, Ayonna Carr 1 1 3-4 8, Kirsten Reid 0 0 0-0 0, Gabi Johnson 0 0 0-0 0. Totals: 3 4 3-4 23. Fouls: 10. Fouled out: None.