The Effingham Lady Hearts had a tough night offensively, but made up for it on the defensive end.

The Lady Hearts held Taylorville to just 20 percent shooting, en route to posting a 39-25 Apollo Conference victory on the road.

“We played incredible defense in the game and that gave us a chance to win on a tough offensive night,” said EHS coach Jeff Schafer. “It was a good win for us.”

The Lady Tornadoes only cracked double figures in one quarter and that was with 10 points in the second period. They scored just 4, 8 and 3 in the others.

Effingham held a slim 17-14 edge at halftime, but then began to pull away in the second half. The Lady Hearts increased their lead to 30-22 after three periods and then outscored the Lady Tornadoes 9-3 in the final eight minutes to finish with the 14-point win.

Taylor Armstrong led Effingham with 10 points and Ella Niebrugge added 8. Annie Frost pulled down a game-high 11 rebounds.

The Lady Hearts, now 1-1 on the season, will hit the road again Saturday, traveling to Mattoon. They will then play their home opener Monday against Teutopolis.