Fulton senior guard Sloane Totta put on one of her typical performances.
Totta delivered a game-high 24 points to help Fulton take down the Moberly Lady Spartans in a 55-48 North Central Missouri Conference victory in the Lady Hornets' winter courtwarming Friday night at Roger D. Davis Gymnasium.
"That's what she does," Fulton head coach TJ Quick said. "She's a gamer and she wants to win every game. She's going to do whatever it takes; she had a big game game tonight."
The Lady Hornets (10-5, 6-1 NCMC) led 15-12 after one quarter. Fulton switched from a full-court press to a halfcourt defense in the second quarter and went on a 10-0 tear - ending with a Slotta 3-pointer - to go up 25-14 with 3 minutes, 47 seconds left in the period. The Lady Hornets went into halftime with a 33-22 advantage.
Moberly outscored Fulton 14-11 in the third quarter to cut the Lady Hornets' lead to 44-36.
"Typically in the first half we're struggling, and in the second half we're playing really well. It was reversed tonight," Quick said. "That just shows the composure and the heart of our team."
Fulton was protecting a 52-47 lead after the Lady Spartans' Syd Flood hit a jumper from the wing with 2:16 left in the game. The Lady Hornets were able to take time off the clock before junior guard Dionne Vaughn scored from outside with :38 to play.
"I thought we did a great job composing ourselves and doing what we need to do down the stretch," Quick said. "If they are going to give us that time, we'll take it."
Senior forward NaShayla Brandt added nine points and collected a game-high nine rebounds for Fulton. Junior forward Gentry Totta also supplied nine points.
Flood and Mia Davis paced Moberly with 14 points apiece and Jessica Lawrence contributed 11.
Fulton is the No. 4 seed for this week's Southern Boone Classic and squares off against No. 5 Hallsville in the first round at 6 p.m. Monday in the high school gym.