QUINCY, Ill. — Winning six games along the Missouri River thus far, Andy Emmons’ Hermann Lady Bearcats ventured northeast to compete in the Rumble on the River Shootout Saturday afternoon at John Wood Community College (JWCC) in Quincy, Ill., against West Central’s Lady Cougars.

Trailing 20-19 midway through the second quarter, Hermann junior Kennedie Witthaus stopped a West Central 13-0 run with a 3-pointer at the 2:28 mark of the period helping Hermann to a 22-20 halftime lead.

Never trailing in the second half, Emmons’ Lady Bearcats went on to hand the Lady Cougars just their third loss of the season by a final score of 69-54 along the Mississippi River.

Tied at 5-5 with 4:28 for the opening quarter, Kimber Hale hit consecutive 3-point shots giving Hermann an 11-5 lead before buckets by Ava Hughes and Kealie Lane in addition to a pair of Hughes free throws capped a 12-0 run giving the Lady Bearcats a 17-5 lead with 29.2 for the first period.

Surviving a three-point second quarter, Hermann escaped the first half with a slim two-point lead.

Named the game’s Most Valuable Player (MVP), Hughes scored seven of her nine first-half points from the free-throw line.

Leading 34-29 with 4:11 for the third quarter, West Central’s head coach was assessed a technical foul for arguing an earlier foul call.

Hughes preceded to make four free throws as part of an 8-0 giving the Lady Bearcats a 40-29 advantage with 4:01 for the quarter.

Even with the Lady Cougars getting within five at 44-39 later in the third quarter, Hermann outscored West Central 22-15 in the fourth quarter to win their fourth straight game.

Flirting with a triple double, Hughes finished with 23 points, six assists and five rebounds.

Witthaus came close to Hughes scoring 15 of her 20 points in the second half.

Hale made it three Lady Bearcats in double figures scoring 11 points.

Alivia Christian narrowly missed a double double with nine points and seven rebounds.

Kealie Lane rounded out the Hermann scoring against West Central with six points, six rebounds and three steals.

Bryleigh Fox led the Lady Cougars with 20 points and five rebounds.

Brylee Lawson also reached double figures for West Central with 11 points, seven rebounds, three blocked shots and three steals.