John Cheatham's Georgiana Lady Panthers opened the 2006-07 basketball season with a 64-36 win Thursday night over Cindy Lowe's McKenzie Tigers.

Although Georgiana (1-0) only held a 22-21 lead at the half, the Lady Panthers had an explosive second half, outscoring the Tigers 42-15.

Offensively for the Panthers, Patrice Cheatham was the leading scorer with 31 points. Shataska Mobley and Melissa Betts each had a huge second half, each finishing with 14 points on the night.

For the McKenzie (0-1) offense, Amber Rudolph had a dominating performance with 30 points while juniors Tia Bush and LaRonica Peterson contributed four and two points respectively.

The Panthers return to action Nov. 27 at W.S. Neal while the Tigers return to action Nov. 21 at home against Red Level.