Willard forced Joplin into a bevy of turnovers early to fuel a double-digit lead by the end of the first quarter en route to a 47-32 win in Central Ozark Conference action on Friday.
“They put a lot of pressure on us early,” Joplin coach Brad Cox said. “We are continuing to get better at handling the pressure, we just aren’t there yet. Once we got into the halfcourt game, I thought we played amazing. … Our girls played really hard. We just need to keep getting better.”
The Tigers (7-13, 2-4 COC) forced the Eagles (4-18, 0-6 COC) into 10 turnovers during the first quarter thanks in large part to running the press early to fuel a 22-3 lead by Willard after the first eight minutes of action. Joplin’s lone field goal came from Bailey Ledford with 1:32 left in the quarter.
“Their press really gave us a problem,”Cox said. “We made some adjustments, but it was a little too late. The press has been one of our Achilles’ heels this year. … The press and rebounding was really the difference in the first quarter. We adjusted well to it, but we have to learn to start the game as strong as we finish it.”
Kailyn Washington had six points to lead the Tigers in scoring, while Carolina Crawford and Scarlett Floyd each added four points in the quarter.
Turnovers plagued the Eagles through the first half of the second period, as the Tigers stretched the lead to 27-3 on a 3-pointer from Karli Wheeler with five minutes to play in the half.
Joplin picked up the pace offensively in the back half of the second quarter, getting buckets from Izzy Yust, Bailey Ledford and Serafina Auberry.
Joplin ultimately trailed 32-15 at the intermission.
Willard pushed its lead to more than 20 for the first time with 2:48 left on the clock in the third quarter when Mia Davault knocked down a 3-pointer from the corner to make the score 37-15.
The Tigers took a 40-17 lead into the fourth quarter and never relinquished the momentum before the final horn.
Yust led Joplin with nine points, while Ledford finished with eight.
Wheeler led Willard with 10 points, while Crawford and Washington each added eight in the win.
Joplin hosts Webb City on Monday.
