Lady Dawgs face No. 14 DeSoto in opening round

By TJ MAXWELL 
Cove Leader-Press

The Copperas Cove Lady Dawgs (26-8, 10-4 in District 8-6A) have seen their share of ups and downs this season, but a strong finish earned them the third-place spot in District 8-6A and a first-round matchup with the No. 14-ranked DeSoto Lady Eagles (27-6, 10-4 in District 7-6A) tonight at McLennan Community College in Waco with a 6 p.m. tip-off.
The Lady Eagles are coming off a 65-63 overtime loss to No. 1-ranked Duncanville (No. 2 in the nation) in the season finale.
The Lady Eagles are led by junior Bria Patterson, freshman Ari’Yanna Hines, sophomore Ash’a Thompson; along with SMU-bound seniors Kayla White and JaQuia White and Brielle Woods (UT-Permian Basin).
The Lady Eagles are a mix of stout defense and potent offense The Lady Eagles have held their opponents to 30 points or less in eight games. The defense is holding their opponents to an average of 43 points while averaging more than 65 points on the offensive end.
The Lady Eagles suffered consecutive losses to Cedar Hill (60-57) and MacArthur (59-55) on Jan 23 and 26 before dominating Grand Prairie (81-15) and Irving (73-15) before their overtime loss to Duncanville last Tuesday to close the season. Their only other district loss was to Duncanville in a 57-51 contest on Jan. 12.
The Lady Dawgs’ four losses came against state-ranked Killeen Ellison and Midway along with an upset by unranked Belton.
The Lady Dawgs are scoring about 53 points per contest while surrendering more than 47 points per contest.
The Lady Dawgs are led by junior Madison Griffon, sophomore Madisen Honea, sophomore Kaysha McCloud and junior Jayda Carter; along with seniors Mariyah Reynolds, Erica Powell and Yaqar Elmore.
Also competing for the Lady Dawgs are sophomore Leah Powell, junior Jada Close, senior Destiny Miller and junior Alex Brito.