It took a few minutes for anyone to score in Wednesday's home game, but when the first points were scored, it came courtesy of freshman Lady Raider Amelia Corasaniti who opened the game on a 7-0, which led to 14-0 run before the Lincoln Trail Lady Statesmen dropped their first bucket, en route to a 91-35 victory.

"We've had a couple of rough games at the start of our games," Corasaniti said. "We've been lucky to come back and finish them off very strong. I think we need to put all four quarters to a strong game instead of having a couple of quarters where we haven't performed our best."

The Lady Statesman scored their first point of the night with just under five minutes to go in the first quarter on a free throw from sophomore guard Khamryn Hopkins.

Following Hopkins' point, the Lady Raiders continued to dominate on the offensive end of the floor with multiple baskets from sophomore guard Da'Naya Ross and a 3-pointer from sophomore guard Courtney Bluitt leading 29-12 at the end of the first quarter.

Less than 15 seconds into the second quarter, the Lady Raiders got going on offense with a 3-point shot from freshman guard Londyn Harper, which was later followed by a 3-pointer from Corasaniti.

"She's really good," said Lady Raiders head coach Alex Wiggs of Corasaniti. "She can score at all three levels, and tonight was her night. That's what makes this team so dangerous is that on any given night somebody can go off and have a big night. I'm really proud of her."

The remainder of the first went back-and-forth with multiple shots from both teams. The half was closed on a Lady Raiders 7-0 run with another 3-pointer from Corasaniti as they took a 53-27 lead into the locker room at halftime.

"We had a goal at halftime," Corasaniti said. "We didn't want them to get past a certain number, and we kept them lower than what he [Wiggs] asked, so I hope he's happy with the second half."

In the third quarter, Lady Raiders freshman guard Samyah Jordan scored the first seven points putting her team up 60-27. Another 3-pointer was scored from Harper, followed by another bucker from Corasaniti. The Raiders defense held the Lady Statesmen to just six points in the quarter.

"It was all our talk to be honest," Corasaniti said of the defense. "We have certain things we do, so to really lock in on defense and talk it up and everyone doing their role and playing their part and man-to-man. Every night is a different defensive plan, so we really just played our way."

It took a few minutes for anyone to score in the fourth quarter, but Harper drained a 3-point shot a little over two minutes into the quarter. The next six points came courtesy of Corasaniti, along with back-to-back shots from sophomore guard Tristan Spearman, capping it off with a 3-pointer from freshman Jordan Blake as the Lady Raiders won their sixth game, moving to 6-0 on the season.

"I think that they're figuring out what's fun," Wiggs said. "This group has figured out that playing hard, together, and losing yourself in your teammates success. That's what fun is. At the end of the night, the most important thing is that we are successful."

The Lady Raiders will have a week off before their next game which will be on the road Wednesday at 5 p.m. against the 3-2 National Park College Lady Nighthawks.

"Coach Wiggs is definitely going to have a lot planned for next week," Corasaniti said. "It's going to be some hard practices. He's definitely going to make us work on that next week, so I'm excited."

Alex Martin - Daily American Republic