SUMMIT, Ky. - A change of scenery, please.

The Ironton Lady Fighting Tigers continued to find the Boyd County gym background a poor shooting landscape as they lost 52-45 to the Ashland Lady Kittens Tuesday in the Kentucky Fried Chicken/Pepsi Colonel Classic semifinals.

The Lady Tigers were only 17 of 54 from the floor for 31.5 percent. In two previous games, Ironton shot 36.5 against Boyd County and 40 percent Monday against Lexington Dunbar.

"I don't know if we have a mental block when we shoot here or what it is. But we've played three games here and we have shot about 35 percent each time," Ironton coach Amy Hughes said.

Ashland, 17 of 37 for 45.9 percent from the field, actually shot better from 3-point range than the foul line. The Lady Kittens were 8 of 15 from behind the arc for 53.3 percent and 10 of 21 at the line for 47.6 percent.

Pam Farrow led Ashland with 18 points, mainly on 5 of 6 shooting from behind the arc. Latasha Henry had 10 rebounds.

"Our defense played pretty well. On the other hand, as well as the defense played, our offense shot that poorly," Hughes said. "After a while, we started to get frustrated and forced some shots and made some bad passes.

"I thought Danielle Henderson did a great job on Henry. They really only hurt us with their 3-pointers and those were from 25 feet or more. That's tough to defend when they're hitting."

Sara Hacker had 15 points and 10 rebounds for Ironton (7-2). Andrea Rudmann added 10 points, seven rebounds and four steals before fouling out. Henderson added eight pints and seven rebounds while Sarah Cartmell grabbed eight rebounds.

The score changed hands six times in the first quarter, and it was 16-16 on a layup by Rudmann with 2:48 to go in the half. But Ashland used a 12-footer by Henry at the buzzer to lead 21-17.

Two foul shots by Mandi Boykin got Ironton within 27-24. Kris Gehringer hit a baseline jumper and York Sammons hit one of four 3-pointers in the quarter for Ashland and the lead was 32-24.

The lead was 39-27 when Boykin made a foul shot and Hacker followed up a missed shot to make it 39-30 heading into the fourth quarter.

A three-point play by Kara Strait gave Ashland a 45-34 lead. Ironton kept chipping away and trailed 48-41 on a put back by Hacker with one minute left.

But Ashland made 4 of 6 from the line down the stretch to halt the comeback bid.

Ashland1471813-52

Ironton1251315-45

ASHLAND (5-3):

Latasha Henry 3-5 (0-0) 3-5 9, York Sammons 2-6 (2-4) 1-2 7, Pam Farrow 5-7 (5-6) 3-7 18, Courtney Hieronimus 1-4 (1-2) 0-0 3, Kara Strait 3-9 (0-1) 2-3 8, Kris Gehringer 2-3 (0-0) 0-0 4, Selena Vanhoose 1-2 (0-1) 0-0 2, Chelsea Clark 0-1 (0-0) 1-4 1. Totals: 17-37

(8-15)

10-21

52. Fouls: 13. Fouled out: None. Rebounds: 6-20=26 (Henry 10, Gehringer 4). Team/dead ball rebounds: 4. Assists: 4 (Sammons 2). Steals: 4 (Strait 2). Turnovers: 17. FG% – 45.9. FT% – 47.6. 3pt% – 53.3.

IRONTON (7-2):

Andrea Rudmann 4-14 (2-5) 0-0 10, Danielle Henderson 3-3 (0-0) 2-4 8, Mandi Boykin 0-8 (0-1) 5-6 5, Sarah Cartmell 2-6 (0-0) 1-4 5, Sara Hacker 7-22 (1-5) 0-0 15, Ciara Taylor 0-0 (0-0) 0-0 0, Tennielle Young 1-1 (0-0) 0-0 2. Totals: 17-54

(3-12)

8-14

45. Fouls: 23. Fouled out: Rudmann (2:21 4th), Henderson (0:23 4th). Rebounds: 20-18=38 (Hacker 10, Cartmell 8, Henderson 7, Rudmann 7). Team/dead ball rebounds: None. Assists: 8 (Boykin 3, Rudmann 2). Steals: 10 (Rudmann 4, Boykin 4). Turnovers: 13. FG% – 31.5. FT% – 57.1.

3pt%: 25.