By MATT KING\Daily Journal Sports Writer

Published: Friday, November 24, 2006
Updated: Friday, November 24, 2006 10:52 AM CST

PARK HILLS - The Mineral Area College women's basketball team battled through a dreadful offensive start, and used a dominant performance on the boards for a 73-57 win over Forest Park on Wednesday.

Leandra Sands scored a game-high 16 points, and Fran Henderson matched Sarah Fraser-Jones with 11 each for the Lady Cardinals, who held a 26-19 halftime advantage after the teams combined for a sloppy 27 turnovers.

Mineral Area (6-2) pulled down 27 rebounds to just 12 for Forest Park during the opening stanza, but made just one of its first 15 shots from the field. The Highlanders moved ahead 10-6 on a slashing scoop layup by Cathryn Stepps.

Henderson gave the Lady Cardinals their first lead of the night at 13-12 with an offensive putback, then followed a field goal from Nikki Mitchell with an inside basket to highlight a 7-0 MAC run.

Sands scored in transition off a steal to build a 32-21 margin early in the second half, but the Highlanders responded nicely to draw within one possession on three separate occasions.

Rhakeemy Canty stood alone for an easy layup on an inbounds pass, and Imagene Dooley drilled a mid-range jumper to make it 37-35 with 15:20 remaining. Canty and Dooley shared the scoring lead for Forest park with eight points.

Dawn Leathers halted the Mineral Area slide with a pivotal putback, and Fraser-Jones knocked down a baseline jumper before scoring on a backdoor feed from Lesley Adams to spark a decisive 19-4 run by the Lady Cardinals.

Sands extended the MAC lead to 69-51 with her second three-pointer of the game, and Pepper Peters added a late putback to produce the widest margin of the contest. Peters finished with eight rebounds off the bench.

Mineral Area will host SW Illinois at 3 p.m. on Friday.

Forest Park 19 38 - 57

Mineral Area 26 47 - 73

SCORING:

Forest Park - Dooley 8, Thomas 8, Allen 8, Canty 8, Cosey 6, Williams 6, Stepps 5, Bullock 4, Taylor 2, Smith 2.

3-point FG - Thomas, Stepps.

Mineral Area - Sands 16, Fraser-Jones 11, Henderson 11, Mitchell 8, Leathers 7, Zaloga 6, Peters 6, Adams 6, Cunningham 2.

3-point FG - Sands 2.