On Saturday, the Lady Spartans welcomed the Providence Hall Patriots for the opening round of the 3A State Championships for girls’ basketball at the Spartan Center. It was a dominant defensive performance by Emery, as they allowed just 11 points over four quarters, taking a 51-11 victory and advancing to Thursday’s round in Cedar City.

Emery’s defense was on display throughout the entire first quarter. Emery came out, causing chaos for the Patriots, building offense off their defense, taking a 17-2 lead after one. Moving into the second quarter, the Lady Spartans revved up their defense even more, allowing 0 points, and took a 30-2 lead into the locker rooms at halftime.

In the second half, the Lady Spartans turned up the defense on the Patriots, frustrating them into missed shots and turnovers. Offensively, Emery seemed to score at will from both the outside and down low, as Aleeyah Cowley owned the paint, and the Spartans would take a 45-5 lead into the final eight minutes of the contest.

In the final quarter, Emery dialed things back after they had created an insurmountable lead, and the Patriots had their largest scoring output of the contest with six points, but Emery would close out Providence Hall, taking the win 51-11.

Cowley led all scorers with 18 points and two rebounds in the contest. Kabree Gordon had 12 with four boards, and Addie Hurst had six points, three steals, and one rebound in the win.

The Lady Spartans now advance to the next round on Thursday, February 19th, where they will face Morgan at 4:10 on the campus of Southern Utah University. The two teams are not strangers, though they did not face each other this season. They met in the quarterfinals last year, with Emery coming away with a 44-30 win.

The game will be available on KOAL107.3 FM or 750 AM, though the time is subject to change.

You can watch the contest with Providence Hall by accessing the player below: