A big win can often lead to a big letdown. The Richmond Senior women’s basketball team looks to avoid that potential circumstance when it returns to the court today.

The Lady Raiders will attempt to win their fifth in a row when they take on Pinecrest in a Southeastern Conference matchup at Raider Gym. Tipoff is scheduled for 6 p.m.

Richmond’s fourth straight victory was its biggest thus far this season. The Lady Raiders (16-2, 7-1) after being pounded 67-42 by Lumberton on Jan. 15, were able to avenge their only league loss, besting the Lady Pirates, 49-43.

The win allowed Richmond to snap Lumberton’s five-game-winning steak and tie the Lady Pirates (16-3, 7-1) for first place in the standings.

“We’re excited and the energy is very high right now, after getting that huge win,” Lady Raiders interim coach Nellie Harrington said. “I think they took us lightly because of the first game they won over us. I feel like that’s something we’re not going to do against Pinecrest because we know there is still some work left to do.”

This will mark the third time this season that Richmond meet the Lady Patriots on the hardwood. Pinecrest handed the Lady Raiders one of their two only losses this season with a 68-65 win in the Holiday-in-the-Pines tournament championship game.

But Richmond returned the favor with a 58-49 victory over the Lady Pats on Jan. 22. The Lady Raiders used a big second quarter to help them win the game by outscoring Pinecrest 27-10 to take a 41-21 cushion into the locker room. In that quarter, Richmond connected on five 3-pointers.

“That was probably one of our best quarters of the season because our offense ran smoothly, and that was one of the best games where we shot the ball from the perimeter,” Harrington said.

Harrington admitted that the Lady Patriots were without starting point guard Jennie Joy, who Harrington said sat out the previous game with a concussion. Joy scored 15 points in the victory at the holiday tourney. The Lady Raiders were also able to hold Pinecrest’s top forward Candice Seagraves to 10 points, after she scored 26 in the tournament title contest.

“With them not having their point guard (Joy), it really hurt them from getting into their offense,” Harrington said.

“In the Christmas tournament, she hurt us going to the hole and we didn’t close up the middle. We’re going to be ready because she’s capable of doing a lot of good things on the court. In the first game, their big girl (Seagraves) scored a lot of her points on putbacks. We did a good job putting a body on her and boxing her out. I think it also hurt her that she didn’t have (Joy) out there.”

The Lady Raiders close out the regular season against third-place Scotland at home on Friday. Richmond held off a late Lady Scots’ rally in the fourth to win 50-46 on Jan. 26. The Lady Raiders have an opportunity to post a season-sweep over the Lady Scots after Scotland swept Richmond a season ago.

“That game is going to be on Senior Night, so I expect our girls to be really hyped for it,” Harrington said. “We didn’t do a good job of closing them out last time, so we’ve got to put together a complete game.”

With four teams out of the SEC going to the state playoffs, the Lady Raiders are virtually a lock to head to postseason play for the second straight season. But Harrington said Richmond’s primary focus is looking to go into the upcoming conference tournament with the top seed.

“We know if we finish first or second in the conference that we’re guaranteed to host a conference tournament game, which would be a great thing,” Harrington said. “I feel like that win over Lumberton gave us that confidence to believe there’s nothing that we can’t accomplish this season.”

Contact sports reporter Corey Davis at 997-3111, ext. 44; e-mail cdavis@yourdailyjournal.com