AMERICUS – After a week-long break, the Southland Lady Raiders took the floor Friday, January 11, in a Region 3-AAA home game against the Lady Panthers of Tiftarea Academy (TA). They were ready to pick up where they left off on Saturday, January 5, when they defeated Glenwood (AL). The Lady Raiders didn’t miss a beat as they jumped on the Lady Panthers early and didn’t let up on their way to a 48-23 victory over TA.

For Southland head coach Ty Kinslow, slowing down TA’s Abby Carswell, one of the top players in the region, was a high priority. His club did just that as the Lady Raiders held the Lady Panthers’ star player to just six points on the night. “She (Carswell) is one of the best players in the region. She has given us fits the last few years,” Kinslow said. “Our team played really well tonight. It was a total team effort.”

As they have done numerous times this season, the Lady Raiders used their full-court pressure defense to create turnovers and convert them into points. They went on a 13-2 run to start the game, thanks in part to two three-pointers by sharpshooter Calyn Fort. With a little over two minutes left in the first quarter, Macy Williams drove to the basket and scored to give SA a 15-4 lead. By the time the first quarter ended, the Lady Raiders were comfortably ahead 22-4. Fort hit three of her three-pointers in the first quarter.

The Lady Raiders continued to score off turnovers in the second quarter and went into the locker room at halftime leading 31-10.

Fort scored 13 points in the first half to lead the Raiders’ attack. For the Lady Panthers, they were led in the first half by Carswell’s four points.

The Lady Raiders went back to work in the second half as they outscored the Lady Panthers 6-2 in the third quarter, capped off by a layup by Holly McCain. SA continued to dominate the rest of the second half as they continued to use their defense to force turnovers and score points off of them.

With a little over six minutes to go, Haleigh Warren knocked down a three-pointer to give SA a 43-14 lead. Lauryn Griffin nailed a three pointer with under four minutes to go to increase their lead to 46-14. The big lead allowed Kinslow to bring in his reserves to give them much-needed experience and to build depth as the Region 3-AAA Tournament approaches in February.