Caesar Rodney cashed in on 37 offensive boards, scoring 20 points on second and third-chance opportunities inside the paint. The Lady Riders also scored 20 points on lay-ups on opportunities other than follow-up shots, meaning they only scored four field goals all night long from more than five feet away from the basket.

The Lady Indians, who dropped to 7-4 on the season, 4-2 in Henlopen play, were on the short end of a 66-44 rebounding battle and didn't help their chances by hitting only 22.8 percent (13-of-57) of their field goals.

"If you focus on (Micki Younger), then (Nakia Anderson) just kills you on the weakside, and that's what happened to us tonight," Indian River head coach Steve Persolio. "Their offensive rebounding really hurt us. I was really concerned about their press, but I really don't think they had that many turnovers for lay-ups."

Persolio said the offensive woes didn't help matters.

"We just couldn't get our shots to fall," he said. "And when you can't get your offense going and they're hitting on all cylinders they beat you. They just keep coming at you because their bench is so deep; it's just a mirror image of their starting five.

"And it's hard to weather the storm when they keep coming at you, especially when your bench isn't that deep like ours is. We didn't help matters by not being able to hit our shots."

Anderson and Younger did the majority of the damage as the statistics showed, pulling down most of the Caesar Rodney rebounds and combining for 31 points. No other Lady Rider scored in double figures.

The pair combined for 10 of Rodney's 17 first-quarter points as the squad cashed in 15 boards to take a 17-10 lead after the opening stanza.

Indian River, which hit only 4-of-14 (28.6%) field goals in the opening period, went ice cold in the second eight-minute quarter, managing only one field goal in 12 attempts. Meanwhile the Lady Riders continued to crash the boards, tallying 13 offensive rebounds en route to a 38-19 lead at intermission.

"Caesar Rodney had consistent pressure the entire game and their coach made some great adjustments," Persolio added. "I still think we got the ball up (the court) nicely, we just didn't do much after that. We couldn't get our shots to fall. And we definitely didn't get any second shots."

Persolio said it was obvious the Lady Riders' defense keyed on guard Sierra Garrison, his leading scorer. She scored 20 points, but seven of those came from the free throw line.

"They definitely keyed on Sierra," he said. "This was the first time this season we saw an up-tempo team like this and I told the girls they needed to learn some things from this game."

Ravin Robinson added eight points, Jessica Hudson threw in four, Shymika Purneu had three and Leigh Ann Ambrose and Stephanie Simms each scored two for Indian River.

The Lady Indians continued to struggle from the field in the third quarter, hitting only 3-of-18 (16.6%) as Caesar Rodney led 53-25 heading into the final stanza.

"I'm hoping that we can build on this game and learn to play them better the next round (of conference)," Persolio continued. "This is our big stretch (in the season). We've still got Polytech, Sussex Tech and Seaford coming."

Reach John Krueger at (302) 537-1881, ext. 105, or by e-mail at jkrueger2@smgpo.gannett.com.

Thursday, Jan. 9

CAESAR RODNEY 62

INDIAN RIVER 39

Caesar Rodney - K. Miller 2 0-2 4, Reed 1 2-2 4, T. Canty 1 0-0 2, M. Canty 1 2-3 4, A .Miller 1 0-0 2, Millner 1 1-2 3, Everson 0 3-4 3, Anderson 8 1-2 17, Brittingham 1 1-2 4, Schonewolf 1 1-2 3, Prystajto 1 0-0 2, Younger 6 2-2 14. Totals 24 13-24 62.

Indian River - Taylor 0 0-2 0, Ambrose 1 0-0 2, Robinson 2 4-6 8, Hudson 2 0-0 4, Morris 0 0-0 0, Miskin 0 0-0 0, Garrison 6 7-10 20, Purnell 1 1-2 3, Simms 1 0-0 2. Totals 11 12-20 39.

3-point goals-CR 1 (Brittingham); IR 1 (Garrison).