CHESAPEAKE — After standing around, Ironton coach Amy Hughes sat her starters down. When they returned, they ran circles around the Chesapeake Lady Panthers.

Ironton’s starters were listless at the start of the game and led just 11-10 at the end of the first quarter.

But following some soul searching on the bench, the starters returned and picked up the pace as they rolled past the Lady Panthers 66-32 Monday.

“We were lethargic. We were standing around. We might as well have stayed in the locker room,” Ironton coach Amy Hughes said. “After they sat down and thought about it, they decided to play.”

The guard tandem of Jessica Waddle and Mandi Boykin ignited the Lady Tigers. The duo combined for 31 points, 11 steals and five assists as the Lady Tigers beat the Chesapeake Lady Panthers 66-32 Monday.

Waddle had 23 points, seven steals and three assists. Boykin added eight points, four steals and two assists.

Sara Hacker scored 15 points and grabbed six rebounds as Ironton improved to 16-2 on the season. Mercedes Crockrel came off the bench to score 10 points.

Sarah Rucker, the Lady Panthers 6-foot-3 junior center, was the focus of the Ironton defense but still managed to scored 23 points, grab nine rebounds and block four shots.

“We did what we could, but it’s almost impossible to guard (Rucker) with her size. She catches the ball well and she has a nice touch around the basket,” Hughes said.

A baseline jumper by Rachel Harris gave Chesapeake a 15-13 lead with 5:26 left in the first half.

Hughes reinserted her starters and Ironton went on a 13-0 run to close the half and take a 26-15 lead.

Two foul shots by Hacker, two steals by Boykin and layups by Crockrel and Waddle extended the lead to 32-17.

A 12-0 spurt to close the quarter put Ironton up 50-24 to decide the outcome.

Ironton11152416=66

Chesapeake10598=32

IRONTON (16-2): Jessica Waddle 10-16 (0-2) 3-4 23, Danielle Henderson 3-12 (0-0) 0-0 6, Mandi Boykin 4-8 (0-0) 0-0 8, Sara Hacker 3-10 (1-4) 8-12 15, Rachel Walker 0-1 (0-0) 0-0 0, Mercedes Crockrel 5-7 (0-0) 0-0 10, Kayla Wileman 2-6 (0-0) 0-0 4, Sammi Morgan 0-1 (0-0) 0-0 0, Edi Taylor 0-0 (0-0) 0-0 0, Ashley Moritz 0-0 (0-0) 0-0 0, Jessica Weaver 0-0 (0-0) 0-0 0, Kathleen Baker 0-0 (0-0) 0-0 0. Totals: 27-61

(1-5)

11-16

66. Fouls: 12. Fouled out: None. Rebounds: 20-10=30 (Hacker 6, Boykin 5 Henderson 5, Wileman 5). Team/deadball rebounds: 1. Assists: 8 (Waddle 3, Boykin 2). Steals: 16 (Waddle 7, Boykin 4). Turnovers: 5.

CHESAPEAKE (4-15): Rachel Harris 3- (0-0) 0-0 6, Paige Nelson 1-1 (0-0) 0-0 2, Susan Jaime 0-2 (0-0) 0-0 0, Tasha England 0-3 (0-1) 0-0 0, Sarah Rucker 10-13 (0-0) 3- 23, Holly Black 0-2 (0-2) 1-2 1. Totals: 14-28

(0-3)

4-6

32. Fouls: 12. Fouled out: None. Rebounds: 3-13=16 (Rucker 9). Assists: 9 (Harris 5). Steals: 1 (Nelson). Turnovers: 25. Blocked shots: 4 (Rucker 4).

RESERVES: Ironton 34, Chesapeake 14. Ironton scoring: Mercedes Crockrel 10, Kayla Wileman 6, Jessica Weaver 6, Sammi Morgan 2, Rachel Walker 2, Edi Taylor 2, Emily Cronacher 2, Jamie Rodgers 2, Ashley Moritz 2. Chesapeake: Angela Johnson 6, Nikki LIndsey 4, Stephanie Sizemore 2, Kristin Delpapa 2.