The No. 24 Brownwood Lady Lions secured their third consecutive lopsided victory to open the 2025-26 basketball campaign, handing the previously-unbeaten Lampasas Lady Badgers their first defeat, 66-35, Tuesday night at Warren Gym.
“We were flying around and had high energy, especially on the offensive end,” said Lady Lions 17th-year head coach Heather Hohertz. “We moved the ball really well. When we were engaged defensively we shut them down, didn’t allow them to get to the basket and only allowed a few shots to get off. They had four threes against us in the first half, the rest of their points were on free throws. I told them we have to close out, we can’t scramble and we have to rotate defensively. That’s something we still have to get better at when we’re playing man and when we’re playing zone, rotating, and making sure we’re there on the catch and not standing. Sometimes we watch too much, especially when we’re not engaged up on the ball on the back side and we’re late rotating and getting beat off the dribble which creates shot opportunities for them.”
For the third game in a row, the Lady Lions (3-0) relied on a quick start to establish momentum, as they scored the first 16 points and led Lampasas (2-1) by a 21-5 count after the initial stanza. Brownwood, has both eclipsed the 20-point mark and held its foe to single digits in the opening quarter, carrying a double-digit cushion into the second period in every outing this season.
“We’re utilizing our athleticism and speed, especially when we’re using our press,” Hohertz said. “It’s creating opportunities to get out and run in transition, which is our strength. It’s been very important and it’s set the tone to start the game. That’s what I expect when we come out of the locker room and come off the floor from warm-ups. That’s been good to see so far to start the season.”
The Lady Lions owned a 40-16 edge at halftime, which stood at 57-22 heading to the fourth period.
Nylah Hall scored a team-best 17 points for Brownwood trailed by Jade Morin and Icess Hall with 13 each, Jentry Coalson with eight, Hannah Deen with six, Trinity Roberts with five, and Abby Brasher with four points.
“The first five, and even the ones coming off the bench, anyone can score for us,” Hohertz said. “We work individual moves, we work on shooting. Trinity has been leading us in scoring the first couple of games, but tonight it was Nylah, and the next person always steps up. That’s what special about this team.”
Lampasas committed 26 turnovers and sank just 12 of 22 free throws, while Brownwood was 16 of 28 at the stripe with 14 turnovers.
The Lady Badgers received seven points from 1, six points from 23 and five points from 0. No other Lampasas player scored more than three points.
Next up for the Lady Lions is the Hamilton tournament, as they face Tolar at 12:30 p.m. Thursday, Winnsboro at 4:30 p.m. Thursday, and Goldthwaite at 8:30 a.m. Friday.
“Tolar made it three or four rounds last year and Winnsboro lost in the state semis to Jim Ned, so it’s going to be a challenge for us,” Hohertz said. “What I want to see is us continue to get better defensively. Thirty points is the most we’ve given up this year. We weren’t great defensively in the second half. We have to be able to play defense when we get tired or we’ve gone a couple of possessions without a dead ball. We also have to continue to improve at rebounding. We gave up seven offensive rebounds in the first half, we’re just not attacking the ball and waiting for someone else to do it instead of being the aggressors. I really need to see those two things cleaned up this weekend.”