Bowling Green’s Lady Buccaneers advanced in the Class AA State Tournament by defeating Oak Hill Academy, 58-32, to open the event in at Canton Academy in Mississippi.

Bowling Green led, 23-14, at the half before making it 39-26 after three.

The Lady Buccaneers had a strong fourth quarter, outscoring Oak Hill, 19-5.

The Lady Buccaneers were helped out by a balanced scoring attack, led by Ashley Foret, who scored 14 points. Foret also had seven steals, six rebounds and two assists.

She was one of five Bowling Green players to hit the double-figure mark.

Hollie Waskom put up 13 points to go with six rebounds, four steals and two assists.

Kristina Jerrell finished with 11 points, three rebounds and two steals.

Reagan Moody tallied 10 points, seven rebounds, six steals and an assist.

McKinley Seal put up four points, three boards and a steal.

Sydney Watson, Caliee Fruge and Katelin Junkins recorded two points each.

Watson grabbed a rebound, made two steals and dished out an assist. Fruge had two rebounds and a steal. Junkins added four boards and an assist.

Bowling Green’s next game is this afternoon at 2:15 p.m. in the state semifinals against Kirk Academy.

If the Lady Bucs win, they play at 2:15 p.m. Saturday.

If they lose, they’ll play at 1 p.m. Saturday to continue their season in the overall tournament.

The top three teams advance to the overall tournament.

The Lady Buccaneers enter this afternoon’s game with a 32-6 record.

Bowling Green reached this point by winning the South State Tournament last week at Brookhaven Academy with a 3-0 record.

After beating Hartfield Academy, 58-17, the Lady Buccaneers added two more lopsided victories to their record.

They defeated Brookhaven Academy, 46-11, Friday before downing Adams County Christian School, 60-42, Saturday.

Moody led the Lady Buccaneers with 20 points in Friday’s game to go with three rebounds, three assists, two steals and a block. Moody knocked down eight of her 10 shots and was good on three of four from beyond the arc.

Waskom posted eight points on 4-of-5 shooting. She also had four rebounds, two assists and two steals.

Foret and Watson had six each. Watson was good on three of four and she had a rebound and a steal. Foret logged three assists and two steals.

Junkins added four points and hit both of her shot attempts to go with an assist.

Seal scored two points, grabbed four rebounds, dished out four assists and made a steal.

Bowling Green knocked down 20 of its 31 shots (64.5 percent) and was good on four of 10 (40) from beyond the arc.

Switching to Saturday’s game, Foret led the way with 18 points on 6-of-12 shooting. She also had eight rebounds, five steals, four assists, and a block.

Waskom scored 15 points on seven of nine from the floor. She also had seven boards, two assists and three steals.

Seal totaled nine points on four of eight from the floor to go with four steals and two assists.

Moody and Jerrell finished with eight points each. Moody added five rebounds, five steals and three assists. Jerrell had five steals and three boards.

Junkins had two points, three boards and a steal.

Four Bowling Green players were named South State All-Tournament players, including Seal, Moody, Foret and Jerrell.

Seal averaged five points, three steals, 2.6 assists and 1.6 rebounds per game.

Moody averaged 11.6 points, 3.3 boards, 2.6 steals and 2.3 assists per contest.

Foret had an 11.3-point, four rebound, three steal and three assist average per game.

Jerrell averaged 6.6 points, 2.6 steals and 1.3 boards per contest in the South State Tournament.