T-Town’s veteran coach said one of the keys was her team’s ability to follow the game plan.

“The first half, we went straight man-to-man, concentrating on (Nancy) Ruholl and (Ady) Rios,” Thompson explained. “They both hurt us in that first game.

“In the second half, we face-guarded Ruholl,” Thompson said. “We didn’t want to give her any easy shots. Plus, we didn’t give up layups like we did that first game.”

The defensive tone was set from the outset.

The combination of Ruholl and Rios, plus Addie Nuxoll, resulted in 48 points in that first meeting. In Saturday’s game, that trio was limited just 28 – with Ruholl accounting for 19 of those.

“I thought they made good adjustments,” St. Anthony coach Aaron Rios said. “Give credit to their coach and their team. They made it difficult for us. Plus, we made it difficult on ourselves. You’re not going to beat good teams without all your scorers being involved.”

After Nancy Ruholl converted a THS turnover into a layup midway through the opening quarter, the Lady Bulldogs owned a slim 5-4 lead. It was their last lead.

Mollie Ruholl drilled her second three-pointer of the period to start a 9-0 run. Chloe Probst added a bucket, Kelsey Niemerg made three free throws and Jersey Gaddis added another foul shot, helping the Lady Shoes build a 13-5 lead after eight minutes.

Addie Lauritzen scored after grabbing an offensive rebound, Rios hit a jumper and Nancy Ruholl made a free throw to open the second quarter and get St. Anthony within 13-10. A three by Nancy Ruholl later made it a two-point margin, 19-17.

But, again, T-Town closed the first half strong. Niemerg hit a pair of foul shots and Eva Mette came off the bench to score four points, sending the Lady Shoes to the locker room with a 24-17 edge at intermission.

A bucket by Lilly Gannaway midway through the third period got the Lady Bulldogs to within five points, 28-23, but they were unable to get any closer the rest of the way.

A three-point play by Anna Probst, a nifty drive to the basket by Niemerg and a bucket by Chloe Probst after grabbing an offensive rebound, expanded the T-Town lead to double digits, 35-25. It was a nine-point spread, 37-28, heading into the final eight minutes.

St. Anthony got to within eight twice, but back-to-back shots from behind the arc by Chloe Probst and Gaddis ballooned the margin to 14 points, 46-32, with 4:41 to play. The Lady Bulldogs didn’t closer than 13 the rest of the way.

“Defensively, we did a very good job,” Thompson said. “I thought our team defense was excellent. I was very pleased with how they followed the game plan.

“I also thought our shot selection was good, plus we had some shots go in this time,” Thompson added, again remembering one stretch of 14 consecutive missed shots in the first meeting. “We had a combination of outside shots, short jumpers and drives. I thought we were aggressive to the basket and I liked seeing that.”

Nancy Ruholl finished with a game-high 19 points. As a team, the Lady Bulldogs shot 32 percent, making 13-of-41 attempts. They were 2-for-11 from three-point range and 7-for-12 at the foul line. They turned the ball over 15 times.

“I was proud of the way we came out and competed,” Rios said. “We’ve had a tough couple weeks, playing some extremely tough competition. That included playing Effingham and T-Town twice. That’s three good teams that I believe on any given night can beat each other. I feel real good with where we’re at as a ball club right now.”

The Lady Shoes had two players in double figures. Niemerg scored 11 points and Chloe Probst had 10. But Mollie Ruholl and Gaddis chipped in with nine and eight points respectively. And Malea Helmink pulled down 12 rebounds, helping the Lady Shoes to a 28-19 edge on the boards.

T-Town made 17-of-44 shots overall, a 39 percent clip. They were 4-for-12 from long range and 12-for-23 at the line. They also had 15 turnovers.

“I thought we played a complete game tonight and everybody played their roles,” Thompson said. “To beat good teams like St. Anthony, that’s what you need.”

The Lady Shoes improved to 13-2, while the Lady Bulldogs dipped to 12-3.