Clutch plays lift Lady Cats to win over Ottawa

Senior Alyse Moore goes up for a basket and was fouled Friday during the Lady Cats’ homecoming game against Ottawa.

It was starting to slip away.

Louisburg, which had as big as a 10-point lead over Ottawa on Friday, all of a sudden found itself behind it what was a physical contest between the two Frontier League schools.

Ottawa scored nine straight points in the fourth quarter to take a one-point lead midway through the period. The Lady Cats’ offense was in the middle of a rut – that was until Alyse Moore and Delaney Wright helped get them out of it.

Moore scored a basket, and then Wright nailed a 3-pointer with under three minutes left and that was all the Lady Cats needed to get them going again in a 47-39 victory on homecoming at Louisburg High School.

“Ottawa was super physical,” Louisburg coach Adrianne Lane said They got hands on several of our passes and shots that we put up. I felt like they took us out of our game because they were so physical. This win was big. I think it showed the girls that we can still win even though we are not playing our best.”

After Moore ended Ottawa’s 9-0 run with a basket midway through the fourth, Wright perhaps hit the biggest shot of the night on a 3-pointer from the corner to put Louisburg up four with 2 minutes and 50 seconds remaining. It was her first basket of the night.

That four-point lead seemed like a big mountain to climb for the Cyclones on a night in which both teams struggled to score.

“Delaney’s 3-point basket in the fourth quarter was huge,” Lane said. “I was super proud of Delaney and her fight. Hitting that three gave our team the confidence we needed to finish this game with a win.”

The Lady Cats (12-2) were able to end the game strong as they finished on a 13-4 run, including six makes at the free-throw line and a big offensive rebound and put back by junior Jordan Mynsted.

Senior Brooklyn Diederich helped loosen up the Ottawa defense early on in the game as she knocked down three 3-pointers and led Louisburg with nine points on the night.

Both teams were aggressive defensively, but the Lady Cats were effective as they forced 24 Cyclone turnovers and turned those into 26 points. Louisburg also recorded 22 steals.

“I cannot say enough about how tough the girls are on defense,” Lane said. “We played man to man, 1-3-1 (zone) and we pressed during this game and every defense we ran the girls played hard and battled every possession.”

Moore also finished with a team-high nine points for the Lady Cats, but also tied with a team-high six rebounds along with Wright. 

Senior Megan Foote finished with eight points, but also had a team-high five steals. Fellow senior Madilyn Melton finished with seven points and sophomore guard Brianne Kuhlman was second on the team with four steals.

The Lady Cats will now prepare to avenge one of their two losses on the season as they travel to Spring Hill on Thursday for a Frontier League matchup.

“I am very happy with where we are right now in the season,” Lane said. “I feel like we are getting better each game and I think we will continue to get better as we continue through the season. The girls work very hard in practice and they are focused on winning and becoming a better team. 

“Finishing the regular season strong will be super important to us for our team morale and confidence as we head into the postseason.”

LOU 9 7 13 18 — 47

OTT 12 3 9 15 — 39

LOUISBURG (12-2): Brooklyn Diederich 3-10 0-0 9; Alyse Moore 3-4 3-9 9; Megan Foote 1-6 6-8 8; Madilyn Melton 2-9 3-4 7; Jordan Mynsted 2-6 2-3 6; Delaney Wright 1-6 1-2 4; Brianne Kuhlman 1-5 2-2 4. Totals: 13-46 17-29 47. 3-point field goals: (Diederich 3, Wright)