By Richard Carrier
Contributing writer

Louisa piled up 13 first-quarter points while the Lady Indians could not find the range from anywhere on the court.

Dana Hinden’s put-back notched the first Powhatan points at the 6:45 mark in the second quarter. Freshman Hanna Livermon’s two free throws and Hinden’s steal and layup ended a mini-run for the Lady Indians at 17-6, but they never got any closer.

Indicative of Louisa’s superior speed and quickness, tiny Latisha Howard (she stands about three inches shorter and 20 pounds lighter than the Indians’ leading scorer) played virtually inside Livermon’s jersey all night and held Powhatan’s leading scorer to a mere eight points. Louisa played a swarming man-to-man defense and consistently kept the Indian’s shooters from setting up for their normally lethal three point attack.

Powhatan stayed in their preferred zone defense for almost the entire contest. The Lions used slick interior passing to do a masterful job of picking it apart. As Louisa began to dissect the middle of the Powhatan zone in the second quarter, sophomore Hana Davis began to assert herself in defense of the post. Davis started with back-to-back blocks at 25-13, and she would have six blocks for the game, including an absolute stuff of Howard’s third quarter jumper. But the Lions continued to carve up the middle. In an attempt to stop the interior bleeding, Head Coach Paulette Bowman inserted both of her post defenders — Hinden and Davis — at the same time, but eight straight points in the paint by the Lions proved their superiority. Jesse Harris bulled her way to the basket and Davis dropped in a long jumper to end the first half, but the Lady Indians trailed 33-17.

The Lady Lions did not bother to take the court for their second half warm-ups and quickly stretched their lead to 42-19. Jessica Deleon scored her first points on a corner jumper. With Davis again asserting herself in the post, Powhatan seemed to generate more energy. Livermon converted her steal to a layup, Davis contributed her fourth blocked shot, Danielle Hawkins dropped in a free throw, Harris’s slick feed earned Livermon another bucket and Livermon drove the baseline at 44-26. Raven Robinson’s sixth point of the quarter ended the scoring, before Davis’s thunderous block of Howard sent the squads back to their benches at 46-26.

Powhatan’s final quarter was barely better than their first. The Lady Indians managed only four points while holding Louisa’s second team to five; all accounted for by the post moves of backup center Diondra Whindleton.

Coach Bowman’s previous comments that her girls lacked the athletic ability to create their own shots, particularly off of the dribble, was highlighted by the smothering, cat-quick Louisa defenders. Deleon led the ineffectual Powhatan scorers with nine points. Senior Ataya Harrison took one shot, went scoreless for the game and contributed two rebounds, both in the final quarter.