MERRY HILL – To say it wasn’t a pretty game would be an understatement.

Northeast and Lawrence combined to shoot only 22.5 percent (25-of-111). The Lady Warriors had 13 baskets compared to 12 for Northeast.

Lawrence won the battle at the free throw line and secured the 45-33 victory. In addition, the teams combined for 41 turnovers (Lawrence – 15, Northeast – 26).

The contest stayed close until the fourth quarter

Lawrence came into the final period clinging to a one-point advantage (25-24), but quickly opened up that lead.

Sarah Gillam scored less than a minute into the period and was followed by consecutive hoops from Jodi White to push the lead to 32-24 with 5:26 to play.

Northeast battled back thanks to free throws from London Harrell and Lyndal Brown to trim the advantage to five (32-27).

A hoop exchange – one each by Warrior Kendall Street and Eagle Joanna Boone – kept the advantage intact until the 2:31 mark of the game.

Street hit both ends of a 1-plus-1 but NEA answered with a Jeanie Hargrave free throw to make it 36-30.

Street’s hoop 14 seconds later was followed by White hitting 3-of-4 from the line to push the Lady Warriors ahead 41-30. Boone answered with a trey, but free throws from Jane Perry and Jessica Johnston sealed the win for Lawrence.

&uot;I thought in the fourth quarter, we put our young girls in – Jessie Harden, Laurel Taylor and Sarah Gillam – and they did an outstanding job for us,&uot; second-year skipper Charlie Harden said. &uot;They were aggressive defensively and that helped us take Northeast out of their game. I think it kind of shook them up.

&uot;We did that to freshen up our starters for the stretch run,&uot; he added. &uot;Jodi White had a monster game for us.&uot;

In the early going, it was Brown who paced Northeast to an 8-4 early lead. She hit three of the Lady Eagles first four shots interrupted only by a Hargrave basket. White and Johnston hit the early hoops for Lawrence.

An exchange of hoops and free throws left Northeast ahead 11-8 at the end of the first quarter.

The second quarter saw Northeast hit just two field goals from the floor, which turned out to be two more than the Lady Warriors.

Meredith Harrell hit the opening bucket of the second period thanks to a feed from Hargrave, but Lawrence surged ahead over the next four minutes as they hit 6-of-8 from the charity stripe.

Hargrave put Northeast back ahead with a bucket and a free throw, but the Warriors responded again from the free throw line where Street hit a pair of shots and Perry hit one to give Lawrence a 17-16 halftime lead.

Nothing changed in the third quarter as the Lady Warriors held their one-point advantage thanks to a White hoop at the 34-second mark to make it 25-24.

&uot;We’ve got a lot of work to do,&uot; veteran Northeast coach Joella Brown said. &uot;We played good in spots, but we have to pay four quarters.

&uot;We have to be more aggressive, box out, make free throws and take our open outside shots,&uot; she added.

Northeast’s Friday date with Brunswick Academy has been postponed. No makeup date has been set. Lawrence travels to Rocky Mount tonight.

Lady Warriors (45): Jodi White – 18, Kendall Street – 14, J. Perry – 5, J. Johnston – 4, K. Gillam – 2, S. Gillam – 2

Lady Eagles (33): Jeanie Hargrave – 10, L. Brown – 9, M. Harrell – 5, J. Boone – 5, L. Harrell – 2, R. Harrell – 2