The Chillicothe Lady Hornets travelled to St. Joseph to face Lafayette in a Midland Empire Conference matchup. Both teams entered with impressive records, Chillicothe at 18-4, Lafayette at 19-3, and both teams placed inside the top 10 of the Missouri Basketball Coaches Association Class 4 basketball rankings.
Chillicothe played a lot of zone against the Lady Irish, looking to limit the damage in the interior from the Lafayette frontcourt. The Lady Irish countered by knocking down four first half threes to establish an early lead. Chillicothe trailed 29-14 late in the first half when the Lady Hornets connected on some long range shots of their own. Lexy Smith and Lydia Bonderer each hit a three in the final minute of the half to cut the deficit to single digits at the break, 29-20. Lyla Beetsma had a big first half for Chillicothe, leading all scorers at intermission with 10 points.
Lafayette broke the game wide open in the third quarter with an 11-0 run out of the locker room. The dynamic duo of junior forwards, Emery Omon and Laniya Carriger were too much of a problem and could not be contained by Chillicothe. Omon and Carriger combined for 30 points, dominated the glass and Carriger added 8 blocks. The daunting defense of Lafayette held Chillicothe to just 11 2nd half points, as the Lady Irish won 51-31.
Chillicothe was held to 31 points or less for the 3rd time in their last 4 games. The Lady Hornets are 18-1 on the season when scoring at least 35. The Lady Hornets fall to 1-3 in the MEC and 18-5 overall. Chillicothe will host Kirksville on Thursday.
Chillicothe 9 20 28 31
Lafayette 16 29 44 51
Individual scoring:
Chillicothe – Beetsma 10, Bonderer 9, Smith 6, Ava Leamer 3, Emerson Staton 2, Maddie Robinson 1
Lafayette – Omon 16, Carriger 14, Tinsley Davison 6, Rozlyn McDevitt 5, Nenah Ross 4, Katana Bigham 3, Shae Davison 3