Big things are expected from the Lady Bulldogs after nearly winning the district title in 2015-16 with a 10-4 record and advancing to region tournament before falling to state tournament qualifier Perry County to end the season.

Cornersville, which returns four starters and the first five off the bench for the 2016-17 season traveled to Eagleville Tuesday night to try and forget the 0-6 start of the previous season, but despite cutting a big, early Lady Eagles' lead to eight points heading into the final frame, the maroon and white went cold from the field en route to a 44-23 loss.

Few scorers

Despite returning the majority of the 2015-16 team the Lady Bulldogs had just three players score points as Madison Hopkins and Emma Mitchell tallied eight points apiece and Morgan Terry ended up with seven points and six rebounds.

Samantha Prosser provided stellar defense for the Lady Dawgs with four rebounds, two blocks and two steals.

The Lady Eagles were led by 10 points each by Karah Snell and Emily Dane.

"I don't think we played terrible on defense," Cornersville coach Peyton Newton said. "We had a few mental lapses on defense, but you held a hot team that shot the ball well from the field to 44 points."

'Stagnant' offense

"Defense wasn't the issue," Newton added. "(Our) offense tonight got stagnant and again, those second chance opportunities and we went cold from the field. So once we get our offense in shape, start shooting the ball well and as long as our defense improves, I think we'll be just fine."

The Bulldogs looked like a shell of the same team that played Eagleville close in the Forrest Thanksgiving Classic last season as the Eaglettes jumped out to a 16-2 lead after Cornersville went ice cold from the field to start the game.

The Lady Bulldogs finally gained momentum as Emma Mitchell knocked down a triple with 1:02 left in the second period to cut the lead in half at 22-11, but the Eaglettes scored at the buzzer to maintain a double-digit lead at halftime.

The Bulldogs came out in the second half hot from the field as senior point guard Madison Hopkins knocked down two 3-pointers and Mitchell drained another 3-pointer to put the visitors in position to make a run at the lead, down just 30-22 heading into the final frame.

Freeze is on

Cornersville went ice cold from the field once again, missing every field goal opportunity in the fourth quarter, while Snell scored six points and Makayla Moats and Kyleigh Cobb combined for six points to run away with the game.

"You saw that we had a rough first quarter but even going into the fourth we're only down eight points," Newton said. "We felt good about where we were, we had a little run and went cold again in the fourth quarter and you kind of saw what you got--a twenty point defeat."

"We've got to crash the boards harder on offense and we've got to be more aggressive getting to the basket," Newton added. "We got them into foul trouble early and right there you want to start driving and get them in even more foul trouble. So we need to be more aggressive, but really we've got to start crashing the boards."

The Lady Bulldogs will be back in action on Tuesday night at the Ardmore Thanksgiving Tournament in Ardmore, Alabama against Clements High.

Eagleville 16 8 6 14-44

Cornersville 2 9 11 1-23

Eagleville-Emily Dome 10, Karah Snell 10, MaKayla Moats 8, Kyleigh Cobb 8, Tori Landry 6, K.K. Batey 2

Three-point goals-Emily Dome 2, Karah Snell, MaKayla Moats

Cornersville-Madison Hopkins 8, Emma Mitchell 8, Morgan Terry 7

Three-point goals-Madison Hopkins 2, Emma Mitchell 2

Halftime Eagleville 24, Cornersville 11