LONGVIEW, Texas - Winnsboro left little doubt after building a 24-point lead in the first quarter and was up 36 at halftime.
Hughes Springs battled in the third quarter before the Lady Raiders started the fourth with a 10-point run and went on to claim a 78-35 Class 3A area title over the Lady Mustangs on Friday at Lobo Coliseum.
Fourteenth-ranked Winnsboro (26-7) advances to the regional quarterfinals to play Daingerfield, which eliminated Mount Vernon, 48-45. The Mustangs' season ended at 15-17.
"Winnsboro's a good team; we knew they had the ability to score," Hughes Springs head coach Phillip Neill said. "We didn't handle the pressure well in the first half. We came out and played in the third quarter; if we had come out in the first with that intensity, it may have been a little different."
The Raiders shot 48 percent on 28-of-58 field goals. Winnsboro held a slight 42-37 advantage in rebounding and committed 29 turnovers, compared to 38 by Hughes Springs.
The Mustangs shot 24 percent on 13-of-54 shots, including 9 of 32 in the second half.
Laiken Allen led Winnsboro with 23 points, and freshman center Faith Acker had 17 points and 17 boards.
Adriana Kennedy scored 13 points and had 11 rebounds for Hughes Springs.
"We tried some different things in the third quarter, but we never could get anything going offensively," Neill said. "I'm very proud of this group for the way they came out in the second half. They could've easily thought that this was done; I told them to go play hard and just see what happens, and they responded."
The Raiders started with a 6-point run and extended that to 19-1 in the game's opening 4:10. Winnsboro had a 13-0 run and a 10-0 streak to go ahead 29-3 with 1:07 left in the first quarter.
The Mustangs trailed 29-5 at the first break, committing 15 turnovers against Winnsboro's full-court press.
Hughes Springs did a better job of protecting the ball in the second quarter, finishing the half with 20 turnovers, but it struggled shooting. The Mustangs were 4-of-22 from the floor before intermission for an 18 percent shooting percentage. HS made just 2 of 15 in the second.
The Raiders built its lead to 49-9 with 1:01 left until intermission, but Hughes Springs scored the half's final four points to face a 49-13 deficit at half.
Winnsboro shot 58 percent (18 of 31) in the opening half.
Leah Ward also scored 12 for the Raiders.
"Our girls showed a lot of heart in the second half," Neill said. "This group never just rolls over. They always respond and play hard; I've always been proud of them for that."