PULASKI, Tenn. -- In this day and age, big leads in basketball games aren't always safe.
The No. 8 Freed-Hardeman Lady Lions experienced that tonight but survived in a 65-57 win over Martin Methodist at the Curry Life Center, always a difficult place to play for opponents. FHU improves to 12-4 on the season and 2-1 in the TranSouth. MMC, which came in just outside the NAIA top 25 on Monday, falls to 12-2 and 3-2 in conference play.
It was FHU's first game since Dec. 17, but Lady Lion head coach Dale Neal didn't blame holiday rust for what he considered to not be one of his team's better performances.
"We never shoot well here," he said. "It wasn't from rust, it was from not being focused. We did not execute offensively very well."
Both teams had their struggles offensively in the first 20 minutes. The Lady Lions went through a 1-for-14 stretch from the field, but the RedHawks couldn't gain any ground as they 2-for-10 themselves during the same time. FHU, though, found a groove that resulted in a 12-3 run to build their largest lead of the first half at 31-15 and led 36-22 at the break.
FHU dominated the boards in the first half, grabbing 24 to Martin Methodist's 12 including nine on the offensive side. Neither team shot the ball particularly well with Freed-Hardeman making 35.1 percent of its shots and MMC making only 30.8 percent.
After Jana Cross opened the second half with a basket to extend FHU's lead to 16 points, the RedHawks followed with an 11-2 run to pull within seven points at 40-33. The Lady Lions then answered with a 10-0 run of their own to open up a 17 point edge and held Martin Methodist at bay, still enjoying a 17-point led (60-43) with 4:53 to play after a Chelsie Alsup 3-pointer.
But the RedHawks, wanting to prove that they are a contender in the TranSouth Conference, had no plans of throwing in the towel.
Martin Methodist followed with a 14-2 run, turning a comfortable Freed-Hardeman lead into anyone's ball game after a T'Qwana Pendergrast putback made it a 62-57 game with :36 remaining. After Tara Deatheridge made one of two free throws, MMC had a chance to turn it into a one-possession game but Lauran Hudgins' 3-pointer was off the mark and Deatheridge grabbed the rebound. Deatheridge then made a pair of free throws with :18 left to put the game away.
"We've got to do a better job of reading defenses," said Neal. "We attacked a little too much on penetration. Instead of pulling up, we'd take one more dribble."
Cross led the Lady Lions with 22 points, 13 of which came in the first half, and seven rebounds. Deatheridge and Alsup each scored nine points, while Deatheridge grabbed seven rebounds and handed out a team-leading four assists.
In her first game of the season, junior guard Kristal Edney scored six points on a pair of three-pointers in 11 minutes of action. Edney had been sidelined with a knee injury.
"It was good to get her some minutes," Neal said, "and work her back in slowly."
Freed-Hardeman now looks forward to its home conference opener on Saturday against Blue Mountain (Miss.) College at 2:00 PM.
Notes: Cross scored 20 or more points for the fifth time and led the team in scoring for the seventh time in 10 games this season...FHU outrebounded its opponent for the 14th time in 16 games...Meribeth Boehler recorded a season-high four steals...Tonight was the first time in five games that FHU shot under 40 percent from the field.
