Higdon scored 20 of her game-high 23 points in the second half, including 14 points in the crucial fourth period, to help her team to the win. On a night when the Lady Cougars (4-8) shot an excellent percentage overall from the field, Higdon was very hot from beyond the arc, hitting 5-of-9 three pointers on the night.
"I was feeling pretty good out there," Higdon said on Monday. "I think it was because I didn't have any fouls in the first half."
The senior guard/forward has been prone to early foul trouble throughout the season and that has limited her effectiveness at times.
The Lady Cougars did an excellent job of handling the ball in this game. In the 81-69 loss to Whitesville Trinity on January 7, the team had 40 turnovers, a very unhealthy number. Against Catholic, Grayson County had just 17 turnovers.
"One of the problems we've had is sometimes we just keep panicking with the ball," Higdon said. "We didn't do that against Catholic. We really got on a roll and had the momentum."
The Lady Cougars were 23-of-51 from the field (45 percent) and were 9-of-21 from three-point range, an excellent 42 percent.
The game was close throughout. The Lady Aces twice held leads of seven points, and the Lady Cougars held their largest lead of the game, 66-58, with 1:56 left to play.
While Higdon started slowly in the scoring column, she had three assists in the first period to help the Lady Cougars stay with the favored Lady Aces (8-5). The first period ended in a 14-14 tie, but the lady Aces scored the first seven points of the second period to take their first seven-point lead, 21-14 at the 5:47 mark. Grayson County answered with six straight and the game was close again. The half ended with the score knotted at 29-29.
After three lead changes in the opening moments of the third quarter, Catholic forged ahead by seven again, 41-34 with 3:56 left to play, but once again the Lady Cougars came back to tighten things up. Stacy Downs hit back-to-back threes to cut the margin to 43-40 at the 2:48 mark. Higdon hit her third three of the game with 2:10 left and the margin was down to two points, 45-43 and the quarter ended with Catholic clinging to that two point lead, 48-46.
Higdon hit back-to-back threes in the early going of the fourth quarter and the Lady Cougars were back on top 54-51 with 5:49 to play. Following a missed bonus opportunity by Catholic, Amanda Alvey scored on a layup to give the lady Cougars their largest lead to that point, 56-51 with 5:28 to play.
Catholic cut the lead to one, 58-57 with 3:20 left, but the Lady Cougars put on an 8-1 run that expanded the lead to eight at the 1:56 mark and they were in the driver's seat the rest of the way. The Lady Aces managed to cut the margin to two points, 66-64 with 11.2 seconds left to play, but Brittany Bird buried two free throws with 8.3 seconds left to seal the win.
Though the Lady Cougars do not have a sparkling record on the year, they have played with courage and heart in each game and have been in nearly every game.
"We don't quit, and we like coming from behind," Downs said on Monday.
"It's not that we like coming from behind," Alvey corrected," It's just that we have to do it all the time."
Bird joined Higdon in double figures with 11 points and Downs had nine. Lee Ann Wood added eight, Alvey and Savannah King had six each and Tiffany Clemons had five to complete the scoring.
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