The Effingham Lady Hearts used a big third quarter to pull away, en route to a 49-36 win at home Saturday over North Clay.

Effingham held a slim 25-23 lead at halftime, but then went on a 17-3 scoring surge in the third period to build a 42-26 advantage. Ella Niebrugge scored nine points to spark that run.

Madison Mapes and Niebrugge both connected on three-pointers and scored five points to help EHS open a 12-7 lead after the first eight minutes. But the Lady Cardinals got eight points from both Alexis VanDyke and Miah Ballard in the second quarter to make it a two-point game at intermission.

Niebrugge finished with a game-high 17 points for the Lady Hearts, while Averie Wolfe added 12. Mapes and Bria Beals both scored nine. Ballard led North Clay with 14 points.

The Lady Hearts improved to 6-1 on the season. They will play two Apollo Conference road games next week on back-to-back nights – Thursday at Mattoon and Friday at Mahomet-Seymour.