Key defensive stops and a career-best scoring effort by freshman point guard Adrian Mann helped the Lady Bulldogs edge out the Lady Hornets 50-49 in Show-Me Conference play on Friday night.
Mann's 22 points led all scorers and pushed South Callaway to its third straight win.
"She's created a lot of chaos and turnovers defensively; she's gotten a lot of layups off her defensive intensity," Lady Bulldogs head coach Darren Humphrey said. "She shoots pretty well, but the defensive end is where she's able to transition and get a lot of offense."
South Callaway (5-2, 2-1 SMC) grabbed an 11-10 edge after a quarter. St. Elizabeth responded with a 16-12 advantage in the second to carry a 26-23 lead into intermission.
The Lady Bulldogs outscored the Lady Hornets 13-8 in the third and held on despite St. Elizabeth outgaining them 17-14 over the final 8 minutes.
"I think the key to finishing them off was probably to create a lot of turnovers; we pressed and got some key steals at some key times," Humphrey said. "I feel like we had the chance to pull away from them and we didn't step up and take the opportunity, so defense was the key there."
Sophomore forward Konnor Arrowood and sophomore guard Nicole Horstman each supplied 10 points for South Callaway.
Freshman center Brooke Struemph paced St. Elizabeth with 21 points.
The Lady Bulldogs host SMC foe Chamois at 6 p.m. Tuesday.