By Lori Brown
GRAHAMSVILLE — February 27, 2007 — The Sullivan West Lady Bulldogs wasted no time in getting a jump on the host Tri-Valley Lady Bears in Friday night’s non-league basketball game.
SW scored 11 points before T-V scored its first basket.
The Lady Bulldogs increased their lead as the game continued to record a 77-28 victory. With the lopsided win, SW ended the regular season with a 14-6 record.
SW’s Sarah Lander scored five points in the 11-0 run to begin the contest. It wasn’t until midway through the first period that Miranda Benevides swished a 3-pointer to put the T-V (5-15) on the scoreboard.
Rachel Houghtaling paced the Lady Bulldogs’ offense by scoring 11 points during the first quarter. 
Behind Houghtaling and Lander, SW enjoyed a 20-3 advantage at the end of the stanza.
The Lady Bulldogs opened the second quarter with a 5-0 run as Katrina Graby scored and Lander swished a 3-pointer seconds later.
T-V’s Kelly McNamara scored a basket to begin the third period. But Lander made the next six points with a combination of foul shots and a regular basket.
With 18 seconds remaining in the fourth period, SW’s Lindsey Murphy scored the last two points of the evening.
Lander was SW’s top scorer with 23 points. Houghtaling netted 17 points and Vicky Argueta added 10 points.
Benevides led the Lady Bears with 10 points, while Kanacia James recorded seven points.
“Sullivan West is good with their outside shooting and [they] had good range on their 3 point shots,” T-V Coach Karen Andrews said. “Sullivan West put a lot of pressure on us.
Andrews then praised the performance of her players.
“The seniors played hard tonight and showed a lot of leadership,” she commented. “We have a good nucleus of returning players for next year as we had two eighth-graders and two ninth-graders on the team this year.”
“The players were unselfish in their passing,” SW Coach Ron Bernhardt said.
“The girls need to work on their rebounding,” he added while looking ahead to this week’s sectional tournament.
Bernhardt said that the big win against the Lady Bears was a good way for his team to enter the sectionals, especially since the Lady Bulldogs had lost their two games prior to Friday night’s contest.
Prior to the game, T-V recognized its senior players. Those seniors are Erin Beach, Miranda Benevides, Gretchen Hartman and Kanacia James.