Belton succeeded in forcing Consolidated to shoot from the perimeter instead of getting the ball inside to 6-4 post Karla Gilbert, but it couldn’t prevent Gilbert from scoring several times off of offensive rebounds and the visiting Lady Tigers’ comeback attempt fell short as they lost 55-45.
“Overall we played well and executed pretty well. We forced them to shoot outside and not feed the ball inside to Gilbert, but then we gave up too many offensive rebounds,” Belton coach Randy Bell said. “I think eight of her 12 first-half points were off of offensive rebounds. She’s 6-4 and it was hard for us to box out against her.”
Gilbert scored a game-high 20 points. Cat Curry led Belton (6-10 overall) with 17 points and Gabby Guzman had 10.
Consolidated outscored the Lady Tigers 17-9 in the first quarter and led 33-23 at halftime, but Belton sliced its deficit to five points late in the third quarter. However, turnovers and 5-of-17 free-throw shooting kept Belton from overtaking Consol.
The Lady Tigers will host rival Temple (9-7, 0-1) at 7 p.m. Friday.
“That’s the key to getting into the playoffs - winning at home,” Bell said. “Our kids and Temple’s kids know each other, so it’s always a big game. It’s a friendly rivalry."
