Panthers hold off Richard HardyThe Woodville girls basketball team hasn't had the best of luck holding on to big leads.Twice this season double digit leads have evaporated during eventual Woodville losses. It's caused some frustration for coach Joey Swinford, and he wasn't excited to see it happening again Thursday night.
Woodville built a 30-15 halftime advantage on the visiting Richard Hardy (Tenn.) Hawks, but Swinford watched as the Panthers' offense grew stagnate in the third quarter while Richard Hardy chipped away at the Woodville lead.
But this time, the Panthers' lead was safe. Woodville (8-4) outscored Richard Hardy 17-12 in the final quarter to hold on for a 53-40 win Thursday, completing a season sweep of the Hawks.
Woodville beat Richard Hardy 55-32 last month in Richard City, Tenn.Swinford said his squad showed some mental toughness by overcoming its poor stretch of play during the third quarter. "Good teams are going to face adversity," he said, "and good teams play through adversity. You're going to have nights that you've got to overcome adversity."
Woodville managed only six points in the third quarter — all on baskets from Emily Huston — while the Hawks cut the Panthers' lead to 36-28 heading to the fourth. Richard Hardy eventually pulled within 40-36 with 4:55 to play, but Rebecca Tidwell hit a 3-pointer on Woodville's next possession. A jumper from Andrianna Talley and a baseline bucket from Adriana Sullivan helped the Panthers pull back in front by 10. Woodville iced the game with solid free throw shooting in the closing minutes.
"We made some good plays to finish it out," Swinford said. "A lot of credit had to go to (Richard Hardy). They're a different team that when we played them up there. They're improving and their coach (Erica Scott) is doing a fantastic job.
"Three Panthers scored in double figures, led by Sandra Osburn's 17 points. Huston finished with 16 while Tidwell had 11. Katie Robinson paced Richard Hardy (1-7) with 12 points.Woodville scored the game's first five points and took a 17-8 lead after one quarter. After a Hannah Raulton 3-pointer pulled Richard Hardy within 19-15 with six minutes left in the second period, Woodville outscored the Hawks 11-0 the rest of the half — Osburn scored nine points during the run — to take a 30-15 advantage into intermission. Woodville has won four straight and seven of its last eight games.
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