It’s no surprise, then, that a loss followed Friday night when the Raiders didn’t score their 15th point until three minutes remained in the third quarter.

Northwest Cabarrus,tied with West Rowan atop the 3A South Piedmont Conference, used stifling defense to cruise to an easy 44-29 win over the Raiders. The second game in the nonconference matchup proved a lot different than when the 4A Central Piedmont Conference Raiders traveled to Northwest and lost by a slim 50-41 margin.

The Trojans (14-4) took advantage of what they learned in that game. Stopping South means not letting 6-foot-1 center Brittney Gaddy take over. She had 24 points in the first meeting.

“The first game against us this year she dominated the inside,” Northwest head coach Scott Burleson said. “We put our leaper on her and she did a great job. That really made the difference.”

That defensive stopper was Jenny Volpicelli, a quick 5-8 forward who added a nice offensive game. But her main contribution came in the low post under her own basket. Every time a lob headed Gaddy’s way, she was there to challenge. More often than not, she denied.

The Raiders (4-13) turned the ball over 34 times, with nine coming in the first quarter. Northwest guard Kristin Waffle scored her team’s first five points on a fastbreak layup and 3-pointer and finished the quarter with nine points. The future Catawba College player added five more points in the second quarter, the same total South managed.

Gaddy and senior teammates Jennifer Morgan scored all 12 of their team’s first-half points. Gaddy proved effective when she got the ball, hitting 3-of-7 shots for eight points, while Morgan enjoyed an active half with four points, six rebounds, two assists and a block.

Waffle opened the third quarter with a shot in the low post and added two free throws and a putback to stake the Trojans to a 27-14 advantage.

Volpicelli then took over, hitting six straight points on three jumpers for a 37-16 lead heading into the final quarter. Gaddy’s two hoops were the only scores for South as the Raiders went 2-for-10 from the field with nine turnovers.

With the game already decided, April Roberts scored a layup off a Northwest turnover, making her the first player other than Gaddy or Morgan to score. Her basket made it 40-20 with 5:15 remaining, and a Mandy Yost jumper and Katie Willett free throws in the final seconds narrowed the gap to 15 points, as close as it would get.

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NOTES: Waffle, who finished with 22 points on 7-for-13 shooting, showed off a little bit of everything. With 49 seconds left in the first quarter, she spun through the lane, lost the ball, picked it back up and tossed a layup toward the glass as she got fouled. The ball rolled around the rim, inched toward the basket, then settled back against the glass — and stopped. No one touched the ball for several seconds, somehow sure it would move, before the refs finally decided on no basket and two free-throw attempts. She made them both.

NORTHWEST CABARRUS (44) — Archey 1, Edwards 2, Cobbs 2, Willems, Baumgardner 7, Adams, Waffle 22, Volpicelli 9, Walter 1, Damewood.

SOUTH ROWAN (29) — Miller, Yost 2, Khan, Roberts 2, Willett 4, Efird 1, Gaddy 14, Morgan 4, Andrews, Sheets 2.

NW Cabarrus 14 7 16 7 — 44