It took a while for the Charles Henderson Lady Trojans to warm up on a chilly Troy night, but, once they did, they were able to run past the Abbeville Lady Jackets.

Charles Henderson struggled out of the gate and trailed for most of the first quarter until the team caught fire from behind the arc.

Trailing 7-10 with just under two minutes to play in the first quarter, Kyra Scott drained a three-pointer to tie the game up. On the Lady Trojans’ next possession, Ashanti Burks matched Scott with a three-pointer of her own. After an Abbeville bucket, Scott added another triple with 20 seconds left in the frame to give the Lady Trojans’ a 16-12 lead heading in to the second quarter.

Charles Henderson stayed hot through the second quarter with Alexis Jones draining a three on the Lady Trojans’ first possession. Charles Henderson stretched its lead to as much as nine, but a couple quick Abbeville buckets in the closing minutes cut the Charles Henderson lead to 26-21 at halftime.

The second law of thermodynamics dictates that what is hot must eventually cool off, and, unfortunately for the Lady Trojans, they began to succumb to entropy in the third quarter. Charles Henderson only managed to convert three field goals from the field and three free throws as the Lady Jackets cut the Lady Trojans’ lead to 35-31 by the end of the third quarter.

The cold second half continued in to the beginning of the fourth quarter. After only scoring on free throw in the frame’s first three minutes, the Lady Trojans found themselves trailing 35-36 for the first time since the first quarter. The Lady Jackets extended the lead to 38-36 before Charles Henderson mounted its comeback.

Switching from a zone defense to a man-to-man, the Lady Trojans adopted a full-court press. Turnovers and quick outlet passes resulted in easy layups for Charles Henderson. Alexis Jones and India Blakeley combined for five layups as the Lady Trojans pulled away and eased to a 48-38 victory. Abbeville did not score in the final three minutes.

After the game, head coach Dyneshia Jones credited the switch to the man-to-man defense with the win. “We started in a zone defense,” Jones said. “Abbeville was able to get some shots off though, so we switched to a man-to-man. That helped us pull away from them late and get some easy buckets.”

Jones said she was happy with the win, but she still sees room for improvement. “In the first half, I liked our shooting,” Jones said. “In the second half, I liked our defense. We still need to work on everything, though. We’re the type of team that is going to continue to work. I’m proud of the win, but we made a lot of mistakes.

India Blakely led the way for the Lady Trojans with 14 points. Alexis Jones added 12.

Charles Henderson next hosts traditional power Barbour County on Friday. First game tips at 4:30 p.m.