Lady Raiders win Region XVI opener

MOBERLY — The Three Rivers College women's basketball team shook off a slow start to Region XVI play as they held on for a 65-58 win over the Moberly Area Lady Greyhounds on Wednesday night at Fitzsimmons-John Arena.

After winning three games in a row over nationally-ranked competition, the Lady Raiders (14-2, 1-0 Region XVI) started slow against Moberly and did not take the lead for good until shortly before halftime.

The game was tied at 19 until Lexi Weaver's two free throws with 2:06 before halftime broke the tie and seemed to spark Three Rivers. Baskets by Samari Taylor were sandwiched around a three-point play from Laylah Reese as part of a 9-0 run to take a 28-19 lead to the locker room.

The Lady Raiders started the second half strong, opening on an 11-4 run which was capped by a Jasmine Davis basket with 5:19 left in the third quarter that made it a 39-23 game. Brittani Wells then added a steal-and-layup to close the third and extend the Three Rivers lead to 50-33.

Moberly (16-2, 2-1) did not give up, using a 9-2 run midway through the fourth quarter to cut the Lady Raider lead to 58-49 on Giovannie Belton's 3-pointer with 4:17 remaining in the game. However, Three Rivers held strong, keeping the lead at eight points or more from there until Jeanie Scott hit a trey right before the final buzzer for the Lady Greyhounds.

Reese led the Lady Raiders with 13 points, while Wells added 11, Davis and Weaver each had nine, Taylor added eight and Kaleigh Thompson finished with six. Reese also had eight rebounds, while Thompson had six. Davis, Weaver, Wells and Kamille Brown each had three steals, while Brown dished off five assists.

Three Rivers is back on the court Saturday evening when it hosts State Fair in another Region XVI contest. Tipoff is slated for 5 p.m. at the Libla Family Sports Complex.