The Goodhue Wildcats' pressing defense set the tone from the opening tip in a 77-46 victory over the Sacred Heart of East Grand Forks Eagles.

Goodhue opened the game with a 14-0 run and really never looked back.

Lynx Floor in Mariucci Arena
Lynx Floor in Mariucci Arena
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Sacred Heart's first point of the game was a free throw with 13:05 to go in the half.

The Eagles would cut the lead to 18-9 with 8:13 to go, but Goodhue got back into their offensive rhythm and finished the half on a 19-9 run to take a 47-18 halftime lead.

The Wildcats scored 20 points off 16 turnovers in the first half led by 5-foot-8 junior Maddy Miller's 15 points and six rebounds in 13 minutes.

Goodhue continued their dominance in the second half and showed their depth. The Wildcats' bench outscored Sacred Heart 19-6 in the second half.

With Goodhue now assured of playing two more games in the next two days, nobody had to log any major minutes in the game.

Five-foot-8 senior Taylor Larson played 20 minutes and finished with 11 points, three rebounds and five assists.

Miller finished with 17 points, eight rebounds and five assists in 19 minutes, and 5-foot-11 sophomore Sydney Lodermeier had 10 points, six rebounds and two assists in 19 minutes.

The Wildcats scored 46 of their points in the paint and finished the game with 31 points off 28 Eagle turnovers.

Goodhue shot 54 percent from the field, including 37 percent from three-point range with five players connecting from long range. Five-foot-5 junior Megan Ryan was the only Wildcat with more than one three-pointer; she had two.

The rebounding statistics were fairly even, 37-32 in favor of Goodhue.

The most impressive statistic in my mind were the 18 assists by the Wildcats with five players tallying multiple assists.

Goodhue head coach Josh Wieme told KDHL that when his team locks in defensively they are "pretty tough to beat."

The No. 5 seed Wheaton/Herman-Norcross Warriors beat the Cromwell-Wright Cardinals 70-55 and will play Goodhue tomorrow at Williams Arena. Coverage on KDHL will start at 11:45AM.

The Warriors appear to me to be more of a half-court team, with good size at every position. In their quarterfinal win, they were led by 5-foot-11 sophomore Briona Edwards with 21 points off the bench. She was 10 of 13 from the field, with mostly layups, and came into the game averaging eight points per contest.

Cromwell's press forced 24 turnovers, but the Cardinals were outscored 48-28 in the lane.

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