The Jefferson City Lady Jays lost their rhythm in the second quarter.
And that's when the Hickman Kewpies found theirs.
Hickman overcame a 10-point deficit late in the first quarter and Emily Miller poured in a game-high 35 points as the Kewpies claimed a 56-46 win against Jefferson City on Wednesday night at Fleming Fieldhouse.
"I think we started standing on the offensive end and on the defensive end," Jefferson City head coach Kristie Douglas-Wiley said. "Our offense got really stagnant, our timing was off and we started to turn the ball over. When you have all of that, it's just a bad combination."
Jefferson City (4-5) led by 10 after a 3-pointer by Lexy Haug with 1:47 to play in the first quarter, but the Lady Jays started to struggle shortly after.
A jumper by Haug kept Jefferson City up by nine with 6:08 left in the first half, but Hickman (5-2) responded with a 14-2 run to take a 23-20 lead with 2:26 left before the break. The Kewpies were 7-of-17 from the floor while the Lady Jays only attempted three field goals and committed 10 turnovers in the second quarter as Hickman took a 27-24 halftime advantage.
"I think Hickman did a good job of taking advantage of our turnovers and second-chance opportunities," Douglas-Wiley said. "We really started to stand and let them get offensive rebounds, and that hurt."
Miller, who has signed to play at Drury University, was 11-of-16 from the field and sank 11 free throws to lead the Kewpies in decisive fashion.
"She's a good player and she's going to get hers, but I think she got way too many open looks," Douglas-Wiley said. "I was not satisfied with how we guarded her tonight, but she's a good player and she's going to get her points."
Hickman was 19-of-37 from the field and forced 24 Jefferson City turnovers to keep a comfortable lead against the Lady Jays in the second half.
Jefferson City pulled within four after a 3-pointer by Tayler LePage with 6:07 to play in the third, but the Kewpies outscored the Lady Jays 11-7 to close out the quarter.
Hickman led by as many as 14 with 3:56 to play, but Jefferson City went on a 7-2 run that was capped by back-to-back jumpers by Alexis Roberson and Nicole Martin to pull the Lady Jays within eight with 2:13 to play.
That's as close as they would get. Hickman committed 10 turnovers in the fourth quarter, but the Kewpies were 9-of-14 from the charity stripe in the in the final eight minutes to hold off the Lady Jays late.
"We had stretches in there where I thought we played really well," Douglas-Wiley said. "We had good defensive pressure and we were all over the place. That's what we need to do for four quarters - we need to be more consistent. When we can do that, I think we'll be a lot better ballteam."
Jefferson City was 6-of-13 from the field in the opening period, but the Lady Jays didn't attempt more than 10 shots and didn't make more than four in the final three quarters.
"I thought we came out ready," Douglas-Wiley said. "I thought we came out with a lot of intensity and energy. We started out moving the ball well and playing up-tempo, and then we just weren't able to maintain that."
Martin scored 17 points on 5-of-9 shooting and Roberson added 10 - six on free throws - to lead the Lady Jays, who play Blue Springs South at 5:30 p.m. Dec. 27 at Rackers Fieldhouse in the State Farm Holiday Hoops Invitaional.
In the JV game, McKenzie Gourley scored 12 points and Alaina Allsbury added nine as the Lady Jays rolled to a 38-12 victory.