FAYETTEVILLE — Freshman Kyra Collier scored 23 points, grabbed 11 rebounds and North Little Rock forced Fayetteville into 25 turnovers to post a 58-35 victory over the Lady Bulldogs in Wednesday’s opening round of the Class 7A girls state tournament.
Collier scored 12 of her points in the second quarter as the Lady Charging Wildcats (18-7) opened a 27-15 halftime advantage.
North Little Rock came up with 18 steals, including seven from sophomore Malika Monk, as the Lady ‘Cats earned a quarterfinal meeting with 7A/6A-West champion Bentonville today.
“We knew that that would be a huge advantage if we could get after their guards a little bit,” NLR Coach Daryl Fimple said. “We’re so young and we were a little nervous. We wouldn’t even shoot at the first of the game.”
The Lady ’Cats made upfor an early lack of shooting, finishing 26 of 64 from the floor. Thanks in part to their 25 turnovers, the Lady Bulldogs (11-17) were only 11 of 37 from the floor. Senior guard Edie Aubrey led Fayetteville with 10 points.
Monk added 12 points for North Little Rock and junior Dajha Hardamon came off the bench to score 11. Senior guard Sasha Giles handed out a team-high five assists, but it was Collier’s performance thatset the Lady Cats in motion.
“She looked extremely well and she’s the one we were really nervous about,” Fimple said. “We called a timeout early, and I think that calmed her down a little bit. She hit a shot, and from there we kind of built our offense around her.”
Collier hit two three-pointers and two 18-footers to account for the majority of her points in the second quarter. She added another 10 points in the second half.
Sophomore Lauren Schuldt, who had game-high four blocked shots, scored the first two points of the second half to pull the Lady Bulldogs to within 27-17, but Fayetteville got no closer.
ROGERS 50, CABOT 45
Senior forward Taylor Strickland scored 23 points and the Lady Mounties (19-10) held off the Lady Panthers (14-11), eliminating the defending state champions.
Cabot scored the game’s first eight points, but Rogers used a 14-5 second quarter to take a 19-17 lead into halftime. The Lady Mounties outscored Cabot 16-8 in the third quarter. Cabot was as close as three in the waning seconds, but free throws from Hannah Hawley and Cassandra Trexler in the final 13 seconds put away the game.
McKinzie James added 16 points for Rogers.
Senior Elliot Taylor scored 12 points to lead Cabot, and senior Ally VanEnk added 11.
Rogers was 12 of 30 from the floor and 23 of 32 from the free-throw line. Cabot was 15 of 41 from the floor and 8 of 13 from the line.
FORT SMITH SOUTHSIDE 59, ROGERS HERITAGE 58, OT
Senior Payton Hamilton hit the second of two free throws with 3.3 seconds remaining in overtime to give the Lady Rebels (20-8) a victory over the Lady War Eagles (19-9) in a first-round game.
Heritage led 58-55 before Southside senior guard Calli White hit a 20-footer to tie the game with 20.6 seconds left in overtime. Heritage missed a potential game-winner and then fouled Hamilton on the rebound.
Hamilton hit the front of the rim on her first attempt and then sank the second for the one-point lead. Southside’s Megan Hines came up with a loose ball on the ensuing inbounds pass to seal the Lady Rebels’ victory.
Junior center Drew Jones led Southside with 18 points while White added 15 and Hamilton 14.
Heritage, which trailed 28-15 at the half, was led by senior forward Ashley Ward’s 20 points. Senior Lacey Murray added 18 points and senior Ellen Lundy scored 11 points and handed out five assists.
Lundy sent the game into the overtime by hitting a free throw with 5.1 seconds left in regulation.
Sports, Pages 21 on 02/28/2013