MINDEN - Trailing 18-16 to Douglas with 4 minutes, 54 seconds remaining in the second quarter, things were already tough enough on the Lady Senators of Carson.
Then when one of its best players went down with a sprained ankle - 6-foot freshman center Danielle Peacon - it got a whole lot tougher for Carson.
But the Senators had several players step up on both ends of the floor and they came away with a 44-39 Sierra League victory over arch-rival Douglas Tuesday at Douglas High School.
Seniors Kaitlin Burroughs and Anna Macquarie raised their games with the absence of Peacon, who had eight points - including six in the second quarter - when she was just beginning to turn it on.
Burroughs scored a team-high 11 points - including a pair of 3-pointers - and Macquarie added nine points and four rebounds as Carson overcame a 20-16 second quarter deficit.
With the game tied at 30 with 3:24 left in the third quarter, Burroughs' 3-pointer began a 7-0 run - which was capped by a pair of Macquarie free throws - and then Carson worked its passing game and clamped down on defense to befuddle the Lady Tigers.
"It's what we've been working on in our non-league contests, over and over again," Garcia said of his team's defense and clock-chewing passing game. "People wonder why. This is why. When it's league, you're ready to do it. We just spread them out."
The three cogs to the Senators' passing game were Burroughs, senior guard Megan Kilty and sophomore guard Brandi Vega, who drained nearly two minutes off the clock after Douglas' Danyelle Heidt buried a three to make it 40-35 with 4:52 to go in the game.
Vega was all over the Tigers and had a steal and a layup followed by another steal in a 17-second span to give the Senators their largest lead at 40-32.
"With Brandi, we're able to do a lot of things with her in there," Garcia said. "She's one of the best guards in the league."
Macquarie scored six of Carson's 10 first-quarter points to keep the Senators within two at 12-10 at the end of the quarter. Macquarie later took a feed from Vega in for a short jumper to give Carson a 43-35 lead with 2:24 to go in the game.
"Anna really had to step up - especially missing the big girl (Peacon)," Garcia said. "She started out strong and came to play. With Douglas, you can never assume. They always play you when you come here. They do an excellent job here."
There were eight lead changes in the first half and Douglas took a 23-22 lead into the locker room. Peacon didn't return to the bench until late in the third and was on crutches at the end of the game.
Garcia said Peacon would be evaluated early today, putting a damper on any enthusiasm he may have had opening league play with four consecutive road wins and improving to 15-3 overall.
"It really doesn't mean we're in a good position," Garcia said. "Like I always say, you can't count on anything till it's all said and done. You don't know who you'll have. This is a good example of that. We don't know how long we'll be without (Peacon). You're not happy, but that's the way it is."
Vega had six points and six assists for Carson. Jessica Waggoner had 12 points to lead Douglas, which fell to 1-3, 7-12.
"I thought we did a pretty good job with our shots," Garcia said. "We didn't shoot in the first half. We had a couple of shots that were ill-advised. We did a better job with our man-to-man defense in the second half. The flex they were running - we didn't do a good job defending. We did a better job against it in the second half."
Carson will have two days off before returning home and facing North Valleys on Friday. The game begins at 5:15 p.m. at Morse Burley Gym at Carson High School.