The Arkadelphia High School Lady Badgers faced Glen Rose in the second round of the Lady Tiger Tip-off on Thursday night at Bill Vining Arena at Ouachita Baptist University. The Lady Badgers fell to the Lady Beavers, 34-46.

Brittlee Williams got the first points of the game for the Lady Badgers with 6:50 left in the first quarter. Glen Rose had an 11-0 run to take a nine-point lead. Jasmine Dickerson got her first points of the game with 3:30 left to play. She added two more from the free-throw line less than a minute later. Osha Nelson added four points with less than a minute left in the first quarter. The Lady Badgers trailed 10-18 at the end of the first.

Arkadelphia was outscored 5-8 in the second quarter. The five points came from a basket by Leanndra Thomas and a three-pointer by Chelsea Welch. The girls were behind 26-15 going into the second half.

 Welch made the first basket of the second half scoring one from the free-throw line. Chekeita Roberts added two more for a score of 18-26. Welch added four more with only 1:17 left the Lady Badgers trailed by seven. Two free-throw made it a nine-point game again, 22-31.

The Lady Badgers made a run to cut the Lady Beavers’ lead to five. Emily Strickland and Dickerson each added a basket. Glen Rose got a free throw with 10 seconds left to make the score, 26-32, going into the fourth quarter.

Glen Rose came out in the fourth and score nine points to make it 15-point lead. Strickland got two in from the free-throw line. Jordan Cooper sank four free-throws in the last minutes, but it wasn’t enough for the Lady Badgers to win the game. They fell to the Lady Beavers, 46-34.

Welch was the leading scorer with eight points. Dickerson and Strickland each had six points. Dickerson also had four steals. Roberts had five rebounds, and Williams had three assists.

“I am seeing some improvements,” Coach Lynn Rook said. “They had a run in the third and cut it to five points. Then, Glen Rose came out and executed on offense and extended the lead. I thought it was the first time they were really let down. They were frustrated. That’s part of growing up, you’ve got to play through the peaks and the valleys. It’s not always good and not always bad, but you’ve got to keep playing hard.”

Rook said the team needs to get more physical. “We are not physical enough in the half-court aspect of our defense. We are not aggressive enough and as physical as we need to be. When the shot goes up, we need to get in position for blocking and rebounding,” he said.

Arkadelphia faces De Queen in the final round of the Lady Tiger Tip-off Tournament on Saturday morning. The Lady Badgers are getting some early playing experience against conference opponents. Rook said that they had playing against De Queen some this summer in camps. “We are unfamiliar with the new conference. We’ll know what to expect more. De Queen likes to run up and down the floor. They are a fast team. They also  like to pressure and push the ball,” he said.

Arkadelphia plays De Queen at Bill Vining Arena Saturday at 11 a.m.