The Coppell Cowgirls fought hard in their third district game against one of their biggest rivals, but free throws were the difference late in a 55-37 Southlake Carroll Lady Dragons victory.

“With Southlake being a really good shooting team you have to expect them to be really good free throw team,” Coppell junior forward Abby Meyer said. “When I saw us go into bonus I knew we were in trouble but I thought we could pull through. We played hard tonight.”
 

Both Carroll  (13-9 overall, 3-0 District 7-6A) and Coppell (13-9 overall, 1-3 District 7-6A)took their time in their offenses, but struggled to finish shots, coming up short on inside and three point shots. The Lady Dragons kept their offense focused on the outside, with passes across the court to freshman guard Kayla Colan with multiple three point shot attempts, but without success.

Determined to make a comeback after trailing 26-21 at the half, Coppell stepped up its defense, almost to a fault, in the third quarter. Multiple fouls were committed on the aggressiveness from the girls in the backcourt and under the basket. Several free throws kept Coppell behind but clutch passing plays from junior guard Kaeli Stayer and junior guard Rachel Crutchfield kept them in the game only eight points behind at the end of the third.

In the fourth quarter, Carroll began to sink the outside shots for the first time all night. The seventh foul of the half put Carroll in the bonus and the Lady Dragons hit free throws down the stretch to pull away.

Although Coppell was fighting back aggressively, the Dragons would not back down. Coppell was in the bonus with a little over half the final quarter left. Second chances allowed them to decrease the deficit,  but it wasn’t enough.
The Cowgirls fought with energy and spark throughout the whole game being evenly matched with their rival, but it simply came down to the importance of the shots on the free throw line.