Ladycats defeat Aurora for Big 8 win

The Cassville Ladycats shook off a cold second quarter and won a home Big 8 Conference battle with Aurora on Monday night, 51-41. Gail Edie led Cassville with 14 points, with 9 of them coming in the fourth quarter.

Talia Pilkenton led Aurora with 15, on a night when the Lady Houn's would hit more three-pointers than free throws. Pilkenton hit four from behind the arc, and Aurora finished with nine bombs in the team scoring column, But the tepid 8-for-16 free throw shooting cost the visitors a chance to be in the game late.

Cassville stormed to a 7-0 lead before Randi Hobson hit the first Aurora long-distance delivery to make a 7-3 game at the 4:24 mark of the opening quarter. Hannah Elkins and Marti Richmiller both scored 5 points in the opening frenzy, and the Ladycats took a 15-6 lead on a pretty lob feed from Elkins to Jaime Everett for an inside stick.

Hobson connected with another three-ball to cut the lead to 15-9 just inside the one-minute mark. With time winding down, Elkins missed a long trey, but Richmiller snared the rebound and scored off the glass at the buzzer for the 17-9 lead at the first break.

The second quarter was 8 minutes of frustration for Chris Shore's offense. The Ladycats took a 9-point lead on Edie's offensive board and score but then went dormant for the final 5:52 of the first half. With Cassville stuck on 22, the Lady Houn's fought back to trail by only 22-19 at halftime.

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