Dexter MO - Coach Chad Allen wanted to upgrade his schedule this year to get his Lady Cats ready for the postseason.  One of those upgrades occurred Saturday as the Lady Cats traveled to DeSmet High School in St. Louis to take on the Webster Groves Lady Statesmen.

Webster Groves came out in a 1-2-2 zone defense in an effort to control the inside game of the Lady Cats.  Brittany Harris spoiled that effort early on with a basket and 3 free throws.  Paige Patterson also made an early basket to give the Cats a 7-6 lead.  After a WG basket, Allison Jarrell hit the first of her 2 three-pointers on the night, to give the Cats a short lived 10-8 lead.  A basket by Moran of the Statesman tied the game at 10 at the end of the first quarter.

The two teams continued to battle, with Jarrell making two free throws, Patterson making one and Harris making a short jumper to give the Lady Cats a 15-12 lead.  Leah Brand then scored 5 straight points for WG to take a two point lead.

After a MaKayla Waldner bank shot tied the game, Brand scored the last two points of the half for the Statesmen, which would also be the last time they led the game.  Allison Jarrell hit a three and Erika Cobb hit a three pointer with :02 left on the first half clock to send the Lady Cats to the locker room with a 23-19 advantage.

The Lady Cats opened up a 9 point lead with baskets by Cobb, Mollie Whitehead and two big three pointers by Hannah Noe making the score 34-25.  After two Lady Cat turnover, WG closed the gap as they scored twice to give the Cats a 34-29 third quarter lead.

A Paige Patterson basket and free throw opened the lead to 8 points and then things began to get interesting.  Webster Groves put on a full court press that gave Dexter fits.  The Cats turned the ball over three times and after Statesmen scores the Lady Cat lead was down to two.

Erica Cobb steamed the tide with a basket. Rachel Sondag made two free throws and a basket to make the score 40-39 Dexter. The teams traded points and with a minute left the score was Dexter 42-41. The Statesmen had to foul the Cats and they responded making 6 of 8 in the final minutes (by Harris, Jarrell and Katelynn Frazier) for the 48-41 win.

With the win the Lady Cats improve to 12-1 on the season and will travel to Kennett Monday night to take on the Lady Indians. JV game time is 6 pm with the varsity game to follow.