FLOWOOD &045; The Tensas Lady Chiefs got off to a good start at the MPSA Class A State Tournament Tuesday afternoon at University Christian School.

Tensas, the No. 4 seed from the South, played more a team with a higher seeed, especially on defense, as the Lady Chiefs stunned the Tunica Institute Lady Blue Devils, the No. 2 seed from the North, 42-35.

Tabitha Howard led Tensas with 11 points.

Lady Chiefs head coach Chuck Bauerle was pleased with his team’s effort, especially on defense.

&uot;Defensively we played good. We held them to 35 points,&uot; coach Bauerle said. &uot;The girls played hard.&uot;

Tensas (24-6) advanced to the quarterfinals to take on 23-6 Heidelberg Academy, the No. 1 seed from the Central, at 4 p.m. Thursday.

The Lady Chiefs set the tone for the game by dominating the first quarter on both ends of the court to take an 18-7 lead at the end of the quarter.

Tunica did its best to stay in the game after that, but, with the exception of Martha Hill, never could get in a rhythm. The Lady Blue Devils outscored the Lady Chiefs 9-6 in the second quarter to trail 24-16 at halftime.

&uot;We actually started off pretty good,&uot; Bauerle said.&160;&uot;We started pressing. We just hit a lull scoring.&uot;

Hill did her best to try to get Tunica back in the game by scoring a game-high 20 points, but got little help from her teammates.

&uot;Hill’s a tough player,&uot; Bauerle said. &uot;But out of the 20 points she scored, she went eight for eight at the line.&uot;

Both teams nearly matched point for point in the second half as Tensas outscored Tunica 11-10 in the third quarter and Tunica outscored Tensas 9-7 in the fourth quarter.

&uot;We pretty much stayed up eight or nine points,&uot; Bauerle said. &uot;We never could get another run to put them away.&uot;