ENID, Okla. – The Alva Ladybugs had a bad taste in their mouth leftover from a loss to Chisholm at the Wheat Capital Tournament on Jan. 4. On Friday, a second quarter run helped get that taste out as the Ladybugs avenged the earlier loss to beat the Lady Longhorns, 38-28.

The Ladybugs started a new winning streak with a victory in Perry last night, 31-23.

Alva (12-6) tips off a daunting three-game homestand with Homecoming on Tuesday night as the Ladybugs host 5A No. 5 Woodward, followed by Class A No. 2 Frontier next Friday.

In its tournament showdown with Chisholm, Alva struggled on the boards, letting the Lady Horn post players control the boards, push around and get easy layups. However, Coach Horn and the ladies made the adjustments needed, holding bigs, Tatum Long and Lucy Rayhor, to just seven points combined.

It was a relatively balanced scoring night for the Ladybugs. Sophomore Payton Jones was held below her scoring average with 13 points, but the team as a whole stepped up as Tatum Rouse-Murphy, Hallie Durkee and Rianna Clark all netted six points and Julie Owen finished with five.

The two squads each pulled down 26 rebounds, with the Ladybugs have a second chance on the offensive end seven times.

Early in the game, the Ladybugs looked poised to open up a big deficit as Clark went baseline for a reverse layup and Durkee found Rouse-Murphy wide open from the left wing for a three-pointer to make it 7-4. But Chisholm closed the first with six straight to take a 11-7 lead into the second.

After a Lady Horn three stretch the lead to seven, Acacia Jones drove in the from the left wing and pulled up from about 15 feet out for basket.

Ultimately, the Ladybugs went on a 10-0 run to close the first half of play. Jones started the stretch with a jumper from the elbow, followed by back-to-back threes from the same spot on the floor by Rouse-Murphy and Jones, who also capped off the run with a jumper off a Chisholm turnover.

Coming out of the break with a 19-16 lead, Durkee threaded the needle with a bounce pass to Clark underneath the basket on the first Ladybug possession of the second half. Later in the third, Owen drained a three from the left corner of the floor, assisted by Ray Ray Bell.

Clark closed the quarter with a pair of free throws after battling for two offensive boards on the same possession to stretch the Ladybug lead to eight heading into the fourth.

With 6:20 to go in the game, the Ladybugs extended its lead to 13 as Bell pulled down a hard-fought offensive board, kicking it out to Durkee for a three from the left wing. The Lady Horns tried to get something going, but missed free-throws stifled the momentum from building. Jones then pulled down an offensive board and went coast-to-coast for an easy layup.

Durkee went on to add a three-pointer and Owen put in a layup late in the fourth, both assisted by Jones.

Ladybugs Overcome Slow Start at Perry

Saturday's Perry game was a makeup contest that was postponed from Tuesday following an electrical fire in the Perry gym. Due to the rescheduled contest, just like the Ladybugs, the Lady Maroons were also coming off a game on Friday night.

Neither squad could get anything going in the first half, with the Ladybugs holding on to a 12-6 advantage at halftime. Stephanie Spellman had five of the Ladybugs seven points in the first period on a three-pointer from the right wing and a layup on an inbound play, put into play by Durkee.

Durkee closed the period with a drive across the lane from left to right for an easy basket to make it 7-4 Alva after the first quarter.

There was even less scoring in the second quarter as Jones recorded all five Ladybug points. With 4:23 to go in the first, Bell drive the baseline from the left side, kicking the ball out to Jones in the opposite corner for a wide open three. Two game minutes later, Jones took the ball to the hole for an easy layup to make it 12-4 Alva, just before Perry answered with a basket on their next possession.

Midway through the third, with the Ladybugs holding onto a 14-8 advantage, Spellman drained her second three of the game to give the Ladybugs a nine-point lead. After a quick 6-0 run by Perry, Spellman found Jones cutting to the basket for two points to make it 19-14 entering the fourth quarter.

Perry tied the game in the final stanza at 19 with six minutes to go, but the Alva offense quickly answered as Rouse-Murphy hit a three on the next Ladybug trip down the floor.

The Lady Maroons made continued to battle, but following a defensive rebound by the Ladybugs, Jones found Spellman underneath the Alva basket from the Perry end of the floor to give the Ladybugs a four-point lead.

Spellman and Jones each finished with 12 points to lead the Ladybugs.

Lynn L. Martin

Ladybug Payton Jones (11) is blocked in her drive at the top of the circle by Chisholm's freshman Regi Pasby (15). Jones scored 12 points in the game. Pasby had one three pointer.

The Ladybugs hit their free-throws down the stretch to ink the victory, 31-23.