Mt. Vernon used a big second quarter to seize the lead and then maintained it throughout, en route to a 55-44 road victory Monday night over the Effingham Lady Hearts.

The score was 14-14 after the opening eight minutes. The Lady Rams then went on an 18-2 scoring run to open the second quarter. The Lady Hearts were hurt by 15 first-half turnovers and trailed 36-21.

Effingham took better care of the basketball in the second half and stepped up its defense as well. Mt. Vernon had difficulty scoring in the third period, but the Lady Hearts weren’t able to take advantage. EHS did outscore the guests 9-5 to close within 41-30.

But the Lady Rams then went on an 8-1 run to open the final eight minutes to go up 49-31. The Lady Hearts had a strong fourth period. Ella Niebrugge hit a pair of threes and scored eight points to help EHS get back to within 11 points at the end.

Mt. Vernon improved to 10-6 with the win. The Lady Rams had three players in double figures, led by Annibelle Harrison’s 13 points. Zana Das scored 11 and Kennady Hayes added 10.

Effingham had eight different players score, led by Callie Feldhake’s 10 points. Niebrugge and Hayley Diveley both added eight.

The Lady Hearts shot 33 percent from the game, connecting on 15-of-45 shots overall. They were 6-for-17 from behind the arc and 8-of-15 from the foul line. EHS finished with 21 turnovers, but held a 33-19 rebounding advantage.

Effingham dipped to 7-8 on the season. The Lady Hearts will be back in action tonight (Tuesday) with an Apollo Conference game at Mahomet-Seymour. EHS will return home Thursday night to play another league game against Lincoln.