Lady Red’Dogs 
Win Third Straight

— Springdale High and sophomore point guard Kierra Lang got a little payback Saturday afternoon.

The Lady Bulldogs controlled their rematch with Rogers High for the final three quarters, pulling away in the second half for a 54-33 home win to kick off the second half of 7A/6A-West Conference play.

Springdale (11-8, 5-3) got some revenge for its 53-49 conference-opening loss at Rogers, a game the Lady Bulldogs 
blew a fourth-quarter lead in.

Lang was still recovering from a December knee injury and finished with eight points and one rebound in the defeat.

Saturday was a different story. Lang finished with a game-high 17 points, seven rebounds and five assists, controlling the flow of the game and carving up the Rogers defense.

VARSITY GIRLS

SPRINGDALE 54

ROGERS 33

Rogers 11 3 9 10 — 33

Springdale 6 16 15 17 — 54

ROGERS (6-13, 3-5): Sagely 11, Ganoung 11, Henry 4, Greear 3, Ryan 2, Trexler 2.

SPRINGDALE (11-8, 5-3): Lang 17, Mack 12, Owens 10, Daniels 8, Goodsell 5, Taylor 2.

“That game we played at Rogers, the first thing we said afterward was, ’Kierra, we know you can play better. We’ve got to get the old Kierra back,’” Springdale coach Heather Hunsucker said. “And I think that really woke her up, because the next week she played great. I think we’re seeing the Kierra Lang that we all envisioned.”

The win was Springdale’s third straight, its longest conference winning streak since starting league play 3-0 in 2005. It also moved the Lady Bulldogs into sole possession of third place in the conference, a spot they haven’t finished at or better since finishing second in 2003.

Lang keyed Springdale’s 13-0 second-quarter run that turned a 12-6 deficit into a seven-point lead. She scored nine points in the second quarter, helping the Lady Bulldogs take control of the game.

“She was awesome today,” Rogers coach Preston Early said. “You could see that she was going to be very intentional about getting going offensively. Good players do that.”

Rogers (6-13, 3-5) led 11-6 at the end of the first quarter thanks to Brooke Sagely’s 11 first-quarter points. But Springdale held Sagely scoreless the rest of the game as it pulled away, outscoring the Lady Mounties 41-15 from late in the first quarter to midway through the fourth.

“I think we got overwhelmed with how athletic and physical they are,” Early said. “For some reason, we weren’t our best version of ourselves defensively. … And it’s hard to keep playing hard when you’re not scoring. I thought that that frustrated us some.”

Springdale sophomore post Desiree Mack turned in her eighth double-double of the season, finishing with 12 points and 11 rebounds. The Lady Bulldogs attacked the basket for much of the game, a strategy that paid off with easy baskets or trips to the free throw line, where they hit 21-of-34.

“We wanted to be really aggressive going to the rim or throwing the ball to the rim,” Hunsucker said. “In the first quarter we settled for too many outside shots. In the second quarter, we got to the line, made some free throws and got some layups. Because we changed what we did on offense.”

Sagely and Libby Ganoung each finished with a team-high 11 points for Rogers. The Lady Mounties host Siloam Springs on Tuesday, while Springdale will play at Rogers Heritage.

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