If Shayne Linzy wants his Lafayette squad to make it to the Pavilion in March and playing for another state championship, they must learn to play against teams who have size.

That challenge is something Linzy is aware of and has made the early portion of his schedule accordingly. Oxford was the next team up on the Lady Commodores schedule with height on their roster and they answered the challenge with a 58-49 win at Oxford High School on Friday.

“Four games of the eight we’ve played have had at least one girl that was 6-foot or taller and we’re trying to get ourselves prepared for the playoffs,” Linzy said. “We’re learning how to adjust to the bigger player because we have none. Teams have attacked us in different ways. Oxford attacked us really well tonight.”

Caliya Toles was the challenge that awaited Lafayette (8-0) on Friday. She scored a career-high 25 points to lead the Lady Chargers with 18 of them coming in the second half. It was the play of Toles that kept Oxford in the game along with the 23 points from Nina Lewis and the 22 from Jamiya Dudley.

Turnovers and a slow start doomed Oxford (8-4) who committed six turnovers on their first six possession of the game. The Lady Chargers settled in and managed to get to within as close as one point in the first half and four points in the second, but Lafayette managed to hold off each rally.

“We have a team that is definitely getting better and they’re young,” Oxford head coach Cliff Ormon said. “I thought our kids competed but we’ve just got to limit our turnovers. We had a few chances where we got it to within four and we needed to make a big play, but I think we turned it over twice in those situations. Just growing moments.”

Senior Azariah Buford led the Lady Commodores with 18 points while Kimaya Dixon finished with 15 points and Molly Jones chipped in 13.

Oxford will travel to Calhoun City on Monday while Lafayette travels to Horn Lake on Tuesday.