The Rudder girls basketball team never trailed Friday against Pflugerville Hendrickson as senior Lamaria Cole scored 19 points to lead the Lady Rangers to a 65-43 victory in District 16-4A action.

Rudder (28-5, 13-1) held Hendrickson to 10 points in each of the first three quarters to stay in control.

"Hutto and Hendrickson are battling it out for the fourth spot, and I felt like we handled both of them well [this week]," Rudder head coach Michael Stenseth said. "At this stage in the season I'm much more interested in us executing on offense and showing good defensive toughness. To hold a team like that to 40 points, that was pretty good for us at this point in our season."

Hendrickson fell to 14-14 overall and 7-6 in district.

Rudder beat Hutto 55-31 on the road Tuesday and began play Friday tied for first in 16-4A.

Cole had another impressive night but got into foul trouble in the second quarter, forcing Stenseth to sit her and later play her in foul trouble.

"We did get to have two and a half to three minutes of her playing with three fouls," Stenseth said. "We have to learn as a player how to play with three fouls and how to play with four fouls in the fourth quarter, so you can continue to play and make contributions."

Cole didn't score in the third quarter but hit two 3-pointers in the fourth quarter, finishing with four fouls.

With Cole out, Rudder senior Fatima Adams took control scoring two field goals in each quarter. Adams' presence inside helped take the pressure off of other Lady Ranger post players.

"[Adams] is extremely important because she cleans up so many missed shots," Stenseth said. "There were things we did against their zone that forced them out of it and into man-to-man. People really don't want to play us man-to-man, but they had to because we were hurting them so bad in the zone."

Freshman KeAsia Williams hit three 3-pointers in her first varsity action for Rudder.

"We really felt all along that she would play varsity," Stenseth said. "The big issue was at what point would we move her up and would she be able to get significant playing time to make it worthwhile. The injuries kind of made us do that, but we don't regret it one bit. It adds another scoring threat and to our defensive presence on the court."

The Lady Rangers are off Tuesday, and the coaching staff will be traveling to the Dallas area to scout potential playoff opponents before hitting the court again next Friday to play at Manor.

Rudder has just one other district game left on its regular-season schedule, the Feb. 7 meeting against Round Rock Cedar Ridge at The Armory. Cedar Ridge is the only team to beat Rudder so far in 16-4A, and with both teams carrying just one district loss, the Feb. 7 game shapes up as a potential district championship.

Rudder 65, Hendrickson 43

HENDRICKSON (14-14, 7-6) -- Jazmin Griffin 2 3 1-4 2 14, Kyera Coleman 3 0 5-6 0 11, Ashli Parish 2 0 2-5 1 6, Ashleigh Cooper 2 0 2-2 2 6, Mariah Meyer 1 0 3-4 4 5, Sarah Sampson 0 0 1-2 1 1.

RUDDER (28-5, 13-1) -- Lamaria Cole 4 3 2-4 4 19, Fatima Adams 8 0 1-4 4 17, Marche Amerson 5 0 5-6 2 15, KeAsia Williams 1 3 0-0 3 11, Tyjha McGee 2 0 0-2 1 4.

Rudder 20 14 15 16 -- 65

Hendrickson 10 10 10 13 -- 43

Next: Rudder at Manor, 7 p.m. Friday