In a span of three days, the Houston Lady Tigers lost a pair of games they led in the fourth quarter.
On Saturday, Licking erased an early deficit and rallied past the Lady Tigers 49-46. Just three days earlier, Houston was outscored 17-5 in the fourth quarter of a 41-37 defeat at Stoutland.
Instead of being 3-1, the close losses dropped Houston to 1-3.
“We’ve got to find a way to finish ballgames,” Lady Tigers coach Brent Hall said. “We have to get the ball in our scorers’ hands and best free-throw shooters’ hands at the end of ballgames.”
Free throws were the difference in Saturday’s game. Houston shot 53 percent from the field, but made just 9 of its 20 foul shots. Three were front ends of 1-and-1s.
Licking was 17-for-21 at the free-throw line.
Senior Kendra Welch led Houston with a season-best 16 points, including two 3-pointers. Erica Keeney had 14 points and seven rebounds.
The Lady Tigers scored the final nine points of the first quarter for a 10-3 lead. Licking responded in the second quarter and pulled even with Houston at the half.
Licking’s 10-7 edge in the third quarter proved to be the difference in the game.
“It seemed like they were quicker to the ball than us,” Kell said. “Maybe they wanted it a little bit more than we did.”
Thursday at Stoutland, Houston led by as many as 10 points in the third quarter and 31-24 entering the fourth. But it didn’t last.
Stoutland rallied with 17 fourth-quarter points to hand the Lady Tigers another difficult loss.
Holly Thomas led Houston with 14 points. Sophomore Sarah Pierce scored seven, and Danielle Pounds and Welch had five points apiece.
Saturday’s game
Houston 10 11 7 18 – 46
Licking 3 17 10 18 – 49
HOUSTON (1-3) – Moore 1 1-1 3. Burgess 1 0-0 3. Welch 5 4-8 16. Thomas 3 3-5 9. Pierce 0 1-2 1. Keeney 7 0-4 14. Totals 17 9-20 46.
LICKING – Whitaker 3 1-2 9. Heithold 0 1-2 1. Wade 1 2-2 4. Duncan 5 7-9 19. Ellison 3 4-4 10. Smith 2 2-2 6. Totals 14 17-21 49.
3-pointers: Houston 3 (Welch 2, Burgess); Licking 4 (Whitaker 2, Duncan 2).
Thursday’s game
Houston 9 7 15 5 – 37
Stoutland 8 7 9 17 – 41
HOUSTON (1-2) – Moore 1 0-0 2. Pounds 1 2-2 5. Welch 2 0-0 5. Thomas 5 4-6 14. Pierce 1 5-7 7. Totals 10 11-15 37.
STOUTLAND – Stampex 3 0-0 6. O’Dell 3 1-2 9. Boatwright 3 5-5 11. White 3 5-7 11. Shead 0 2-3 2. Totals 12 13-17 41.
3-pointers: Houston 2 (Pounds, Welch); Stoutland 2 (O’Dell 2).
