Pinckneyville racked a 20-point lead in the first half and never let up in a 68-38 victory over Chester Thursday night.
The Lady Panthers led 19-5 at the end of the first quarter and 37-17 at halftime. Pinckneyville put the game out of reach in the third by outscoring the Lady Yellow Jackets 23-10 in the third.
“I was really pleased with our defensive effort again,” said Pinckneyville coach Alan Engelhardt. “We did a nice job of getting out into the passing lanes and disrupting the offense Chester was trying to run.  On the offensive end, we did a better job of showing patience and running the offense until we got something easier.  It was nice to see Taylor Cicardi break out of her funk, getting 18 points and shooting the ball well, and Emily Miller had another big game for us, scoring 23 while going 9 for 12 from the field.”
With the win, Pinckneyville improved to 8-2 overall and 3-2 in the conference.
Jordan Clendenin scored nine points to pace the Chester offense, while Hilary Best added eight.
Chester fell to 1-12 on the season with the loss and 0- 4 in conference play. The loss was Chester’s 10th straight of the season.