Sixth-ranked Riverdale drops Warren Co. girls

MURFREESBORO ? Riverdale?s district-leading girls squad celebrated homecoming in winning fashion Friday night, handing the Lady Pioneers their 11th straight loss with a 73-34 decision.

Entering the game with just one loss in 7-AAA play and the No. 6 ranking in the Associated Press Class AAA poll, the Lady Warriors used their quickness in transition to build a quick 12-1 lead on the way to a 23-12 first-quarter advantage, and kept the Lady Pioneers (3-18, 0-10 district) off the board for most of the second quarter, taking a 39-14 lead into halftime.

The Lady Pioneers turned in their most productive quarter in the third, posting 16 points to more than double their halftime total, but Riverdale ? behind the combination of Nikki Talley, Alex Bivens, Anne Marie Lanning and others ? continued to pad their advantage, leading 60-30 after three periods and using a 12-1 fourth-quarter surge to seal the league victory.

Lanning, who signed to play with 19th-ranked MTSU prior to the season, and Bivens both finished with 15 points, while Talley added 11. Morgann Swoape and Shellina Burgess chipped in eight points each, as the Lady Warriors connected on 30 of their 60 attempts from the floor.

The Lady Pioneers got eight apiece from Brooke Bowman and Taylor Nunley, while Kasey Owens and Sarah Roller scored four apiece. Miki Rogers, who returned to the court from an ankle injury in time for Thursday?s freshman game, saw her first varsity action in several weeks, and contributed a first-quarter 3-pointer, as did Brittany Frazier. WCHS was 12-of-39 from the floor, but went just 7-of-18 at the free-throw line.

The Lady Pioneers were in action Saturday night against Tullahoma, and play host to White County Tuesday before returning to Murfreesboro to face Blackman Feb. 2.