Pinckneyville ran out to a big lead in the first quarter and then held off a late rally from Anna-Jonesboro to pick up a 51-47 victory Tuesday night in SIRR Mississippi girls basketball action.

“We really came out and took it to them in the first quarter,” said Pinckneyville coach Alan Engelhardt. “We did a nice job of running the floor, attacking the rim, and pitching back out for threes.  Once we got up on them, we really started to sleepwalk through the second-half though.  I think the biggest difference was our willingness to attack in the first half and our complete lack of aggressiveness in the second half.  But we escaped with another conference win on the road, and you have to always appreciate when you come away with one of those.”

The Lady Panthers led 25-7 at the end of the first quarter and held a 39-21 halftime advantage.

Anna-Jonesboro outscored Pinckneyville 26-12 in the second half, but came up four-points short in the end.

Taylor Cicardi and Emily Miller each scored 10 points to lead the Lady Panthers.

With the win, Pinckneyville improved to 15-5 overall and 4-2 in conference play.