SUMMIT, Ky. - There was a knock down but no knockout.

Suffering from their worst shooting game of the season, the Ironton Lady Fighting Tigers found themselves down by 11 points midway through the third quarter.

But the Lady Tigers bounced off the canvas and counter punched their way back into the game as they rallied for a 46-44 win over the Rose Hill Lady Royals Saturday in the Boyd County Shootout.

"They showed a lot of character," Ironton coach Amy Hughes said. "Things were going back and we were down by 11, but the girls did a gut check and came back. I'm proud of their effort."

Andrea Rudmann scored 11 of her 20 points in the second half to spark the comeback. Mandi Boykin, who turned in a strong defensive effort in the fourth quarter, had 9 points and eight rebounds.

Leading scorer Sara Hacker had just 3 points, all from the foul line.

"We had the same shots we always get, we just couldn't get them to go down," Hughes said.

Ironton is now 15-1, its best start in school history.

Rose Hill (7-6) was led by Emily Queen with 22 points, but just 2 in the fourth quarter against the relentless pressure of Boykin.

"I thought Mandi did a great job on Queen in the fourth quarter. She denied her the ball and I think it frustrated their team," Hughes said.

The game was tied four times and there were three lead changes in the first half. Royal Hill took a 23-16 halftime lead as Terry hit an 18-footer and Queen two foul shots.

Queen scored 8 straight points in the third quarter to give Rose Hill a 31-20 lead at the 3:55 mark.

Rudmann came roaring out of a time out and scored 8 points - she had two pointers - and Boykin drained a 3-pointer with 38 seconds left to get Ironton within 35-33 at the end of the quarter.

Jessica Waddle sank two foul shots to start the fourth quarter a tie the game and Boykin's runner in the lane put Ironton

up 37-35 with 6:02 left.

Terry made a 3-pointer to put Rose Hill back in front 38-37 and the lead see-sawed four more times, finishing with a 3-pointer by Sahar

Yates with 1:04 left to give the Lady Royals a 44-43

lead.

But Waddle had a steal and layup with 39 seconds to play that gave Ironton the lead for good at 45-44. Rudmann was fouled with six seconds left and hit the first of two. Queen rebounded the second shot and drove the length of the floor only to miss her shot.

Ironton791713-46

Rose Hill716129-44

IRONTON (15-1):

Andrea Rudmann 8-17 (3-10) 1-2

20, Danielle Henderson 2-4 (0-0) 0-1

4, Mandi Boykin 4-11 (1-1) 0-0

9, Sarah Cartmell 1-2 (0-0) 2-2

4, Sara Hacker 0-11 (0-2) 3-4

3, Ciara Taylor 0-0 (0-0) 0-0

0, Jessica Waddle 1-2 (0-0) 4-7

6. Totals: 16-40

(4-13)

10-16

46. Fouls: 13. Fouled out: None. Rebounds: 10-21=31 (Boykin 8, Rudmann 5, Hacker 5, Henderson 4, Taylor 4). Assists: 4 (Boykin 2). Steals: 6 (Waddle 2). Turnovers: 17.

ROSE HILL (7-6):

Sarah Yates 4-11 (2-7)

0-2

10, Alison Hamilton 0-5 (0-3) 0-0 0, Laura Terry 4-13 (2-5) 0-0

10, Emily Queen 8-16 (1-2) 5-7

22, Lindsay Adkins 1-4 (0-2) 0-0

2, Leah Terry 0-1 (0-0) 0-0

0, Hannah Lutz 0-0 (0-0) 0-0

0. Totals: 17-50

(5-22)

5-9

44. Fouls: 12. Fouled out: None. Rebounds: 7-22=29 (Queen 16, Terry 6). Team/deadball rebounds: 5. Assists: 4 (Terry 3). Steals: 3. Turnovers: 18.