STREAKING LADY BADGERS STYMIE BURNET
Howard lifts LHS to 25-4A victory - 5th win in last 6 games
By JEREMY HEATH Staff Writer

Senior guard Jennifer Howard scored 19 points on Tuesday.

With the Lampasas girls' basketball team almost desperate for a District 25-4A win, it turned to its most explosive player.

She came through.

Senior guard Jennifer Howard scored 19 points Tuesday night to lead the Lady Badgers to a 56-51 win over Burnet at Bozarth-Fowler Gymnasium.

"How good is Jennifer Howard?" LHS coach Mitzi Lancaster asked rhetorically. "She's a player."

Howard, whose fearless drives through the lane were set up by the early outside shooting of her teammates, scored eight of her points in the second quarter and seven in the fourth, helping to thwart potential Lady Bulldog rallies.

LHS (7-10 overall, 1-1 in district) is scheduled to resume district action tonight at 8 p.m. at Austin Lake Travis, which improved to 2- 0 in district with a win against Cedar Park Vista Ridge on Tuesday. Burnet, which lost to Lake Travis on Dec. 4, falls to 9-7 overall and 0-2 in district.

The win was the Lady Badgers' fifth in six games after they finished second in the Llano Tournament last weekend.

Ashley Lowery (20) hit a 3-pointer to give the Lady Badgers a 16-6 lead at the end of the first quarter.

The Lady Badgers jumped out to a 16-6 first-quarter advantage against Burnet behind hot outside shooting. Casey O'Connor, Michelle Benton, Molly Rogers and Ashley Lowery each hit 3-pointers in the opening frame. Lowery's was a buzzer-beater from six feet behind the arc.

"It set the tone and gave us confidence," Lancaster said. "When we can hit our outside shots, and my guards start handling the ball well and showing patience, we have a lot more confidence."

Howard extended the lead to 18-6 just 35 seconds into the second frame with a pull-up jumper, but Burnet cut the margin to 18-12 at the 5:15 mark. Then Howard scored the next two buckets -- the first on a feed from Latoscha Sherman, and the next on a turnaround jumper -- to put the Lady Badgers up 22-12. The teams traded baskets for the rest of the half, and LHS led 28-19 at the break.

Sherman scored four of her eight points in the third quarter, as the Lady Badgers got scores from six players in the period to lead 42-28 going into the fourth.

The Lady Bulldogs, who were led by Felicia Kennedy's 15 points, rallied in the final quarter, but the Lady Badgers hit eight free throws in the frame to hold them off.

On the night, LHS connected on 18 of 28 shots from the line, and Burnet hit on 21 of 36.

Benton finished with nine points, going 4 of 4 on free throws. Lowery had eight points, O'Connor scored five, Rogers 3, and Lauren Barlow and Nicole Durante tallied two apiece.

"We're a lot more experienced than Burnet (Kennedy was the only senior in the starting lineup), so I expected us to play well," the coach said.

"At this point in the season, our seniors have to realize that we're counting on their gamesmanship and experience more so now than ever before."

LHS 56, BHS 51

Records

Lampasas is 7-10, 1-1; Burnet is 9-7, 0-2.

Impact

The Badgers even their District 25-4A record at 1-1 with their fifth win in the last six games.

Key Stat

LHS senior guard Jennifer Howard scored a game-high 19 points.

Key Play

With the Lady Badgers leading 13-6, Ashley Lowery's 3-pointer barely beat the buzzer to make it 16-6 at the end of the first quarter.

Up Next

Lampasas at Austin Lake Travis, Friday at 8 p.m.