Clarksville, TN – The Clarksville Lady Wildcats, LaVergne Lady Wolverines, cheerleaders coaches and fans on both sides donned “We Back Pat” T-shirts Friday night at William Workman Gymnasium in honor of legendary former Tennessee Lady Vols head Coach Pat Head Summit and to support The Pat Summit Foundation.
Members of the Summit family, including her grandmother Hazel Head, were in attendance as the Lady Wildcats won their fifth game in a row, defeating the Lady Wolverines 68-34.
“We’re young and we make young mistakes. But we are really playing well as a team,“ Lady Wildcats head coach Brian Rush said. “They look out for each other on the court and you can see the team structure in the defense and in the ball movement on offense. We’re just young, so we are learning every step of the way. It’s been nice as the season has progressed from the losses to the wins that we’re learning our lessons along the way.”
Sophomores Ta’Tayana Outlaw and Haley Bearden led the charge in the paint for the Lady Wildcats. Outlaw led all scorers with 20 points. She also grabbed 5 boards and made one block. Bearden was one rebound shy of a double-double with 13 points, 9 rebounds and 3 blocks in the game.
“I think they are our two more experienced girls. They definitely know when it is their time to step up,“ Rush said. “They has a size advantage tonight and they took advantage of it.”
Eight different Lady Wildcats scored in the game. Ke’Oshea Deaver came off the bench and had an offensive explosion from outside. She made three, 3-pointers in the game. She scored 16 total points, 12 of which came in the last two minutes.
“Ke’Oshea works hard every day and she is learning and growing as a ball player. She got hot,“ Rush said. “When you get a 3-point shooter out there, they are streaky. Once she got hot, you couldn’t turn the light off.”
Turnovers kept the Lady Wolverines off the scoreboard. In addition, the Lady Wildcats size advantage inside limited the Lady Wolverines second chance scoring opportunities. The Lady Wildcats out-rebounded the Lady Wolverines 24-18.
“Hats off to them. They hit some outside shots,” Rush said. “They had some girls that really stepped up. I don’t think the final score was very indicative of the way the game was played.”
The Lady Wolverines scored only 14 points in the first half. By the middle of the third period they were down 32-17.
Already ahead by 16 points at the beginning of the fourth period, 40-24, the Lady Wildcats increased their defensive pressure which led to more scoring opportunities. They scored 28 points in the last period. Ke’Oshea scored 13 of the 28 including the last 12 points of the game for the Lady Wildcats.
“I think we’re learning. Early on the lessons were hard. I think we are definitely progressing,“ Rush said. “We are no where near where we need to be, to be a factor in this district. But we think we’re getting better everyday and that is our goal.”
All proceeds from the game including ticket sales and concessions went to the Pat Summit Foundation.
Photo Gallery
Box Score
Clarksville 68, LaVergne 34
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Final | |
| Clarksville Lady Wildcats | 15 | 12 | 13 | 28 | 68 |
| LaVergne Lady Wolverines | 8 | 6 | 10 | 10 | 34 |
Clarksville: Ta’Tayana Outlaw 20, Haley Bearden 13, Ke’Oshea Deaver 16, Melia Correa 5, Hannah Goins 4, Aliyah Miller 2, Nyasia Saines 6, Lainey Persinger 2
LaVergne: Jasmine Smith 12, Seanna Morris 6, Crimson Reynolds 3, Audrey Biggs 8, LaToya Darby 5
