Phil Lee

LIBERAL, Kan. – And the switch was turned on.

After a nip-and-tuck battle through two quarters, the Seward County Community College women’s basketball team decided to throw down the hammer and put the clamps on the Otero Lady Rattlers in the second half en route to a 66-45 triumph on Tuesday at the Greenhouse.

The Lady Saints extended their winning streak to four-games with the non-conference victory and improved to 8-2 overall. SCCC also remained unbeaten at home, going 4-0 at the Greenhouse. Seward heads to play at fifth-ranked Dodge City at 1 p.m. on Saturday.

Seward only led 33-32 at the half over a pesky Otero squad. The Lady Saints turned it on and never looked back, playing stifling defense, holding the Lady Rattlers without a point until the 4:49 mark. By that time, SCCC was up by double-digits, 44-32.

Seward erupted to start the third with an 11-0 run with four points each by Avery Marchino and Ari Gordon while Allie Myers had a bucket and Kezia Grant-Bobb added a free throw for the scoring.

The Lady Saints led 54-40 after three quarters and held the Lady Rattlers to just 13 points in the second half, eight in third and five in the fourth.

Marchino had 12 points and Kylee Hunt chipped in 10 points to lead a Seward balanced attack. Grant-Bobb had nine points and eight rebounds, Gordon scored eight and Biyyanah Ellis and Myers each had seven points for Seward.

Ariadna Pastor had 13 points and Kendra Byrd scored nine for Otero, which fell to 1-9 overall.

The Lady Saints were down early, 7-2, and trailed 15-11 after one, but battled back and opened a 19-15 margin n the second quarter. The Lady Rattlers showed resilience and would not go away, holding a 32-31 advantage with under a minute in the half. Grant-Bobb banked in a shot with 20 seconds remaining and SCCC had the lead at the half.