How would the Lady Raiders respond to their first conference loss over the weekend in Wednesday night’s game against the University of Louisiana-Monroe?

That was the question hanging over the team going into the game. The answer is the team would play the way they have all year, primarily in what was a dominant second half, leading to an 87-58 victory.

Offense was hard to come by for many Raiders in the first half with two big exceptions, Icelyn Elie and Anne Marie Lanning. Lanning and Elie had 35 of Middle’s 42 first-half points.

“What got (Elie) open was a double team on Ebony Rowe,” head coach Rick Insell said. “Rowe is drawing so much attention now that she’s getting the other kids open. “

The game was back and forth through the first half. It wasn’t until the last five minutes of the half that Middle started to build any kind of lead when the team went on a 10-0 run that included eight points from Lanning.

Sloppy play at the end of the half helped prevent Middle from taking a double-digit lead into the second half.

Rather than using the shot clock to their advantage and running time off the Raiders took early shots and gave ULM more chances to score. Lanning grabbed an offensive board with 30 seconds left in the half, giving Middle an opportunity to hold for the final shot, instead she took a quick shot and missed.

ULM missed the follow-up shot, and Kortni Jones had a chance to hit a buzzer beater going into halftime that fell just short, hitting the front of the rim.

After the half Middle came out with a conscious effort to work the ball into the paint and they succeeded in doing so.

“The plays that we ran were as soon as I get it I’m supposed to look in the post,” Lanning said.

Middle started the half outscoring ULM 14-6 through the first five minutes of the second half. The next five minutes would be even better for Middle.

Thanks to a spark off the bench from Keke Stewart, the Raiders were able to go on a 19-0 run. Stewart made six consecutive baskets during the run, scoring all but one of her 13 in that stretch.

“I think that was probably the difference in the ball game,” Insell said.

“At halftime coach just talked about the things we needed to work on,” Lanning said. “He focused on defense, getting it where it’s cohesive and we can work as one.”

At that point Middle was on top 73-40 and the game was all but over. Middle did allow ULM to push back a little over the next few minutes of play, closing the game from 33 to 23, but a pair of late three-pointers from Tina Stewart put the game back at 29.

Elie finished the game with 28 points and eight rebounds. Lanning added 18 points and nine assists, and Ebony Rowe scored 13 and grabbed nine boards after only scoring 2 in the first half.

“The last two practices had been pretty tough,” Insell said. “They need to know it’s going to be a tough situation, every game is going to be like this from now on. We’ve got to cut our turnovers down, we’ve got to use our heads a little more.”