It was an up and down night for the Carl Albert Lady Titans in Lawton when they took on the MacArthur Lady Highlanders. Turnovers and rebounding woes led to a rough night for Carl Albert, but they still survived to win 41-35 due in part to their own defense causing turnovers.

The Lady Titans started off hot hitting their first three 3-pointers in the first quarter. Before you could look up, the Titans were up 13-6. MacArthur senior guard Paj Jackson kept the Lady Highlanders within striking distance scoring 8 of her 13 points in the first. Still, the end of the first saw the Lady Titans still holding a five point lead.

MacArthur turned up the pressure on Carl Albert in the second quarter, and Carl Albert didn’t respond well. The ball movement stopped on the offensive end of the floor leading to six turnovers in the quarter. Meanwhile on defense, the Lady Highlanders were shooting until they made it. They scored eight of their 14 second quarter points on second chance points.

The Carl Albert offense only mustered up four points in the second quarter, and MacArthur used the Carl Albert mistakes to turn the five point hole into a 26-21 lead by the time halftime rolled around.

“We hit [3-pointers] in the first; we didn’t hit them in the second and gave them too many offensive rebounds because we didn’t block out,” said Carl Albert coach Tim Price of the second quarter.

But, Coach Price and Carl Albert made adjustments at halftime to retake the momentum. They moved into a more aggressive defense with some zone pressing to get the MacArthur offense out of rhythm. They also poured in three more 3-pointers to assist in mounting their comeback. Carl Albert finished 7-21 from the 3-point land.

Carl Albert was able to regain the lead by the end of the third. They took a three point lead to start the fourth quarter and never looked back. Well, somewhat didn’t look back.

The game turned sloppy in the fourth quarter. The teams combined for 14 turnovers in the quarter with the MacArthur turning the ball over nine times themselves. For the most part, Carl Albert couldn’t capitalize on the MacArthur mistakes to extend their lead and put the game away.

The end of the game saw them miss two free throws, commit four turnovers and miss two layups at the end of the game instead of holding the ball to run out the clock. Still, the Lady Titans defense held strong holding the Lady Highlanders to just two points in the quarter. 

They were able to escape Lawton with a 41-35 win. Kaley Hallmark led the team in scoring with ten points on the night. Jordan Gilbert had a rough night scoring but still was able to contribute in other ways with six points, nine rebounds, four assists and two steals.

“Jordan’s going to be our leading scorer,” said Price. “She’s got good size and athletic ability to cause mismatches, and we are going to continue to put the ball in her hands.”

It wasn’t pretty for Carl Albert. They put up two quarters (second and fourth) in which they didn’t score more than six points, but their defense, which forced 25 turnovers, helped them come away with the victory.

Coach Price wasn’t pleased with the fourth quarter. He thought there was some impatience and over-dribbling on the offensive side of the ball. However, he’s still proud of his girls for fighting and finding a way to ultimately put MacArthur away.

“I’m proud that found a way to get the win, but we need to improve and get better and be sharper,” said Price after the game.