SILOAM SPRINGS — Fayetteville saved its best defense for the very end.

The Lady Bulldogs held Siloam Springs without a field goal for the last 4 minutes, 8 seconds of Tuesday’s 7A/6A-West Conference girls basketball game, and Fayetteville pulled away for a 50-40 win in Panther Activity Center.

After trailing by as many as 11 points in the second half, Siloam Springs cut Fayetteville’s lead down to 41-38 with 4:08 left on a basket inside by Krista Lopez, forcing Lady Bulldogs coach Vic Rimmer to call a timeout.

Rimmer said the Lady Bulldogs (10-14, 6-5) did two things. First they drew up a play to get a quick basket and score. Second, they switched defenses.

Both worked.

Mollie Brewer got fouled and hit a pair of free throws to go up 43-38. Then after Siloam Springs’ Bailee Owens missed a 3-pointer, Aubrey Edie raced down the floor and scored in transition for a 45-38 lead.

“We made a defensive change that we’ve been working on a little bit, and it helped a bunch on our angles and how we were guarding,” Rimmer said. “Once we made a stop and got that bucket, we kind of felt a little cushion there.”

Caylea Moore hit 3 out of 4 free throws, and Ellie Breden hit two more from the foul line. Only two free throws from Lopez kept the Lady Panthers from going completely scoreless over the final half of the quarter.

Siloam Springs coach Brett Sanders said the Lady Panthers (11-11, 4-7) played scared at times against Fayetteville.

“I haven’t been able to take the fear out of them,” Sanders said. “We’re scared to bring the ball down the floor. We’re scared to go score. We’re scared we’re going to come back and win a game.”

Jaylah Prude led the Lady Bulldogs with 12 points, all in the first half. Edie scored all eight of her points in the second half, while Breden and Alexa Howard each had seven.

Baily Cameron led Siloam Springs with 14 points, while Lopez had 10.

Fayetteville 12 12 15 11 — 50

Siloam Springs 9 9 16 6 — 40

Fayetteville (10-14, 6-5): Prude 12, Edie 8, Howard 7, Breden 7, Moore 6, Crockett 4, Brewer 2, Austin 2, Schuldt 2.

Siloam Springs (11-11, 4-7): Cameron 14, Lopez 10, Miller 9, Gay 3, Owens 3, Pippin 1.

Boys

Fayetteville 69, Siloam Springs 52

Siloam Springs took a swing at Fayetteville on Tuesday and the Bulldogs staggered a few times. But in the end, Fayetteville had too many weapons and too much firepower for the Panthers to overcome.

Payton Henson scored a game-high 31 points for Siloam Springs, but Fayetteville (21-3, 11-0) answered with 43 combined points from Jawan Smith and Manuale Watkins, who had 22 and 21 respectively.

Siloam Springs (17-5, 7-4) pulled to within 25-21 in the second quarter on Henson’s basket in transition. The Panthers had a chance to get even closer, but Henson’s next layup rimmed out.

Dylan Gray added 12 points for Siloam Springs, while Reece Goddard scored nine. Henson, Gray and Goddard were the only three Panthers to score.

Fayetteville 19 13 20 17 — 69

Siloam Springs 11 10 16 15 — 52

Fayetteville (21-3, 11-0): Smith 22, Watkins 21, Waitsman 10, McCullough 6, Paschke 4, Williamson 4, Gooderl 1, Boyd 1.

Siloam Springs (17-5, 7-4): Henson 31, Gray 12, Goddard 9.