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POWELL - In a battle of top-ranked 3A teams the Worland Lady Warriors (8-3, 3-0) bested the Powell Lady Panthers (8-4, 3-0) 44-38 Saturday afternoon at Powell High School.

The game between WyoPreps No. 3-ranked Worland and No. 4-ranked Powell saw five ties and six lead changes in what would be a valuable road win for the Lady Warriors.

They secured victory with their hardnosed defense and clutch free-throw shooting.

"Winning in the fourth quarter was big. We played defense and closed out the game with defense and free throws at the end, it was a big win for us on the road," said WHS girls basketball coach Ben Hofmann.

Starting the second quarter Powell had a 9-5 lead after playing tough interior defense in the first quarter, which made things difficult for Worland bigs Lyndzi Rich and Charlee Townsend.

The second quarter is when another of Worland's scoring options, senior Bailey Gibbons, and freshman sparkplug, BreAnna Parra, provided their team with an offensive boost.

Parra scored all seven of her points in the second quarter while Gibbons at one point was responsible for eight straight Worland points. Gibbons used the full complement of her game in the second quarter by either scoring from the perimeter or attacking the rim.

"It's nice being able to have different options," said coach Hofmann when talking about Worland's scorers. "Powell did a nice job and they have nice bigs that limited Lyndzi (Rich). It seemed that every time she touched the ball there were two to three girls around her. It's pretty hard to stop three girls who are capable of scoring 10 to 15 on a given night. (Saturday) Lyndzi didn't have hers but Bailey (Gibbons) did. It just hard for a team to focus only on one girl because then you're leaving other options open. For us if we get one or two going we're going to be tough to beat."

The Lady Warriors took a 25-20 lead at halftime but the Lady Panthers were not going to go quietly.

In the third quarter Powell stormed back to tie the game at 27-27. After trading baskets Worland was able to take a two-point lead, 33-31, heading into the final quarter of play.

In the fourth, defense and free throws would give the Lady Warriors the edge. After struggling as a team from the charity stripe in the early parts of the season, Worland has quietly turned around their free-throw shooting woes.

Powell started the fourth with a 6-0 run and took a 37-33 lead but could not put the defending champions away. After twice being fouled on drives to the basket Gibbons made 3 of 4 free throws to bring the score to 38-36.

Down two and only 1:16 remaining in the game, coach Hofmann designed a sideline inbound set for his team to execute. After the first two options were covered, the ball was passed to Mackenzie Cottrell on the baseline who found Rich open for the briefest of moments. Rich then went strong to the basket, scored and was fouled in the process.

With the game now tied at 38-all, Rich missed her free throw but Gibbons was able to keep the ball alive as Townsend gained possession, went up strong and drew the foul. Townsend calmly sunk both free throws giving Worland a 40-38 lead.

On the ensuing possession, Worland's defensive pressure forced Powell into a turnover to which Worland capitalized on. Guard Casey Wassum found a driving lane to the basket, was fouled and hit on 1 of 2 free throws to put her team up 41-38.

Powell's next possession resulted in a turnover as Townsend stole the ball and was fouled immediately. Townsend hit on 1 of 2 free throws giving Worland a 42-38 lead.

After Powell missed a one-and-one Gibbons grabbed the rebound and was fouled. Gibbons nailed both free throws to lock up the Lady Warriors 8th win of the season.

In the final minute of the fourth quarter the Lady Warriors went 6 of 9 from the free throw line to grab the win.

"Definitely an area we've been working on and to win that game at the free-throw line in the fourth quarter was outstanding and gives us a lot of confidence," said Hofmann. "The last week, week and a half we've won a couple of games because of our defense. We're going to score 40 to 50 points a game. We've been holding teams at under 40 or around 40 the last three to five games. If we can do that consistently and our offense picks up a little bit we'll be in good shape."

This week Worland has a two-game home stand, on Friday they host Torrington at 5:30 p.m. and Saturday they host Wheatland at 12:30 p.m.