Fri. Jan. 10, 2014 | A&M Consolidated’s girls basketball team allowed its play against Oak Ridge to get a bit loose in the first and fourth quarters, but the Lady Tigers clamped down hard in the middle.

Consol shook off a poor start and squeezed the life out of the Lady War Eagles’ upset hopes by dominating the middle quarters on the way to a 69-55 victory at Tiger Gym on Friday night. The Lady Tigers trailed 17-9 after the first quarter, but Consol limited Oak Ridge to 14 points combined in the next two quarters. Consol scored 28 points in the second quarter, including 19 that came as a result of 14 turnovers in the period by the Lady War Eagles.

In the third quarter, Consol defenders harassed Oak Ridge into missing all 11 shots from the field. Oak Ridge’s numbers for the middle quarters were 3 of 20 shooting with 18 turnovers.

“We had a great second quarter,” Consol coach Karen Heintz said. “We picked up the intensity. We need to score points off turnovers. That’s our M.O.

“I felt like we did come out slow to start the game. However, I’m very proud that we rallied. We got our engine going, and we did that by running the floor and the defensive intensity.”

Consol’s drive was steered by senior guard LuLu McKinney and fueled by freshman wing Ariel Starks, who shared high-scoring honors with 20 points each. McKinney produced six points as the Lady Tigers opened the second quarter with a 12-0 run. The UTEP signee added three more buckets before intermission, including a 3-pointer from about 28 feet at the buzzer. click here for complete story