Turnovers hurt Dust Devils at Elko

ELKO - The uniforms read Elko but this was not the same Lady Indians the fans had seen this season.

The Tribe came out knocking down shots, playing pressure defense and just beat Dayton in every way possible for a 55-16 rout Friday night at Centennial Gym.

"We worked on (shooting) in practice," Elko coach Dave McCabe said. "We felt it was one of our weaknesses. We needed to square up and follow through and the girls did a better job of focusing."

Whatever the magic formula, the Lady Indians need to bottle it up as they scored a season-high in points. The previous high was 47 at a game in the Las Vegas Tournament.

While Elko's offense got off to a fast start, the Dust Devils never got going. They turned the ball over early and often, missed several wide-open looks and struggled at the free-throw line as well (4-for-22).

The Tribe's Ali Lostra grabbed an offensive rebound for a putback to get things started. Teammate Erin Nielsen followed with four quick points, while Dayton turned the ball over on its first four possessions. The Dust Devils struggled with Elko's full-court press.

"Our goal was too apply a lot of pressure and make things happen on the defensive end," McCabe said. "I felt applying that pressure broke up Dayton's offensive rhythm."

The Devils' Maribel Ledezma hit a layup in transition with 6:43 left in the first to get her team on the scoreboard, however, it turned out to be Dayton's only points of the period.

Elko went on a 18-0 during the next 11 minutes to blow the game open. Emma Sprout caught fire hitting two deep baseline jump shots. Early in the second quarter, she swiped the ball from Dayton and went down for a layup.

The Dust Devils had opportunities at the charity stripe to break the drought but could not convert. They also tallied 23 turnovers in the first half, including on five straight possessions to start the second quarter.

Andrea Ramirez and Ledezma each had five points to lead the Dust Devils.

Elko JV 64, Dayton JV 25

Elko got 17 points from Jeanelle Bastien St. Onge, and Alyssa Stevens and Shaeli Wilson each tallied eight in the rout.