Chillicothe fends off Lady Owls

Sophomore Linzi Bledsoe didn't make the jumper, but sank four free throws after a pair of strong drives during the final minutes of the Lady Owls' loss at Chillicothe. [Click to enlarge]

CHILLICOTHE -- With a basketball team as young as the one the Marshall girls put on the floor, struggling is inevitable.

What has been surprising is that the Lady Owls are consistently causing other teams, good ones at that, difficulties -- such as during Saturday's 35-33 non-conference loss at Chillicothe.

"If we were getting blown out by everybody, we wouldn't be sure," remarked Marshall head coach Jeff Martin. "They're already learning some of the things they need to do."

As was the case during a 33-32 overtime loss to Warrensburg two days earlier, the Lady Owls rallied during the fourth quarter -- nearly erasing a seven-point deficit. It came down to three free throws by junior Hannah Heuman with one-tenth of a second left, but she couldn't make all of them.

"I really hate when kids in that position don't come through. You talk about pressure," Martin said. "For that situation, she's one of the ones we want up there."

The game was evenly played, Marshall having a better-than-average shooting night -- especially from the free-throw line, making 11 of its first 12 tries -- and the Lady Hornets press defense helping to create 21 turnovers.

After the Lady Owls had gone ahead 17-10 midway through the second period on sophomore Krystal Peeples' post-up and three-pointers from Heuman and senior Robyn Jennings, they coughed the ball up on four straight possessions to allow Chillicothe to catch up.

"When they were out there pressuring us like they were, we were getting out of sync," Martin explained. "We'd get caught up in watching [senior guard] Nicki [Erickson] dribble out front."

Junior Kim May came off the bench to hit a bomb and finish a drive and senior Amber Parker drained a three as the Lady Hornets took a one-point lead into the break. Marshall began the second half with five scoreless minutes, but only gave up four points during the third quarter.

A Heuman free throw and freshman Amy Durham's jumper tied the score at 26 with 6:47 to go in the game. However, Parker reeled off seven points in a row in a span of under three minutes by maneuvering down low.

"We've got to make sure we're getting around everybody all the time. We've got to develop that habit," Martin said. "When you get tired, it's hard to maintain that concentration level."

Chillicothe's lead was 35-28 until sophomore Linzi Bledsoe sank two charity shots with 1:29 remaining. The Lady Hornets missed the front end of three one-and-ones the rest of the way, but Bledsoe made two more freebies and Erickson -- who only a minute earlier had gone skidding across the floor diving for a loose ball -- grabbed a rebound with 17 seconds left.

"We handled ourselves well down the stretch," Martin said. "We've got it down to just a minute group of things we've got to fix we've got to fix to make a difference."

The Lady Owls barely got off another shot, Chillicothe smothering the perimeter in an attempt to prevent a three-point attempt. Heuman finally unleashed one and was fouled in the process, although a slow whistle -- which came only after the shot missed instead of the time of the contact -- cost a second and a half on the clock.

Heuman's first shot was off the mark, but she made the second. Marshall called timeout to set up an intentional miss, and Heuman did her part by getting a carom into play. The tipped ball, though, didn't make it to the rim as the horn sounded.

Parker led all scorers with 13 points and junior Andrea Walter had seven points and seven rebounds for the Lady Hornets (4-1), who missed 10 of 15 free throws.

Erickson's seven points and three steals topped the Lady Owls. Bledsoe had six points and three assists and freshman Courtney Henley added six points.

Marshall (1-5), which hosts Rock Bridge Monday, has lost three in a row -- but all of them could have been won. Martin believes that having so many close games will mature his squad.

"It toughens your hide a little bit," he asserted. "There isn't any situation we haven't been across, so we know what to do."