Lady Bucs Fall to Three Rivers in Top 10 Showdown

Poplar Bluff, MO- The Shelton State women's basketball team took their first loss of the season, falling to the Three River Lady Raiders, 64-48.

Julie Nekolna led the Lady Bucs (6-1) with a game high 19-point, 12 rebound double-double. No other Lady Buc reached double figures as freshman Janiyah Bone finished with 9 points and Alana Obianozie with 8.

The first quarter was a back-and-forth affair that saw the Lady Raiders (6-1) take a one-point lead into the break (13-12). The Lady Bucs battled back to take a one-point advantage at the half leading 27-26.

The 3^rd quarter saw the Lady Raiders take a 30-29 lead with 7 minutes remaining, a lead they would never relinquish. Outscoring the Lady Bucs 15-6 over last 7 minutes of the 3^rd quarter gave the Lady Raiders a commanding 45-35 lead going into the final period. "We cannot expect to win big games unless we improve from the free throw line," said head coach Madonna Thompson. The Lady Bucs went 12-22 (55%) from the stripe including 4-9 in 3^rd quarter. "Hats off to Three Rivers and coach (Alex) Wiggs, they are an extremely disciplined group that took advantage of every mistake we made." The Lady Bucs turned the ball over 20 times, leading to 21 points for the Lady Raiders.

The 4^th quarter saw the Lady Raiders get hot from beyond the arc hitting 4 threes in the quarter and pushing their total to 9 for the game. Matching their 3^rd quarter performance, the Lady Raiders posted a 19-point final period outscoring the Lady Bucs by 6 (19-13) in the final frame.

The Lady Bucs return to action tomorrow to face the 4^th ranked Wabash Valley Lady Warriors at 1:00 PM at the Libla Family Sports Complex on the campus of Three Rivers in Poplar Bluff, MO.