SACRAMENTO, Calif. – Freshman Jackie Koerwitz had a career-high 10 points among four  players in doubles figures as St. Francis posted an 89-50 victory over Kennedy Tuesday night.

“I thought the first half was outstanding,” said Head Coach Vic Pitton. “We got a little complacent in the second half and lost the mental edge. It is something that happens until you have been there a few times. Our pace on the floor was really up tempo and the passing was phenomenal. We are really showing an understanding how to run the floor.”

St. Francis (4-0) scored 28 points in each of the first two quarters, posting a 56-14 advantage at the break. Senior Lauren Craig scored 15 of her 17 points in the first half and grabbed 17 boards to record a double-double.

“She saw she had an advantage and took advantage of it,” said Pitton. “The players knew to get her the ball and we got inside to Kyra in the second half. We had plenty of opportunities and distributed the wealth.”

Senior Kyra Huffman added 16 points, including 10 in the second half.

“We were able to find mismatches especially with the bigs,” said senior Tia Hay, who recorded 16 points, eight boards and seven assists. “We were able to get them open and we rotated the ball really well. We looked for the open shots and ran the defenses really well and got some fast breaks.”

Kennedy (0-1) cut into the lead in the third quarter, hitting five three-pointers and added three more in the final period. The Cougars were led by 16 points by Joanna Lauderdale and 15 by Megan Tran.

The Troubadours travel to Phoenix next week to play in the Nike Tournament of Champions.

“Having the four wins gives us a confidence booster but we always have in the back of our minds there are teams better than us. It is good to have confidence but we know there is some good competition out there. Going to Arizona will be good for the team to experience the different skills and players.”

St. Francis has won its four games by an average of 38.7 points. The Troubadours moved up to No. 5 in the Sacramento Bee weekly rankings.

“I feel really good about our team,” said Pitton. “We have a long road ahead of us and Arizona is going to be a great test. We are going to see exactly how good we are.”

St. Francis 89, Kennedy 50	1	2	3	4	F
Kennedy	6	8	19	17	50
St. Francis	28	28	13	20	89

K – Lauderdale 16, Tran 15, Patterson 9, Covington 6, Umemoto 3, Asoo 1. SF – Craig 17, Huffman 16, Hay 16, Koerwitz 10, Ortiz 9, Nicolos 7, Williams 6, Fairbrook 5, Kelly 2. Deterding 1. 

Sacramento Bee Girls Rankings

1. McClatchy

2. Sacramento

3. Antelope

4. Oak Ridge

5. St. Francis

6. Del Oro

7. Christian Bros.

8. West Campus

9. Folsom

10. Pleasant Grove

11. Elk Grove

12. Placer

13. Inderkum

14. Capital Chr.

15. Woodcreek

16. Monterey Trail

17. Bella Vista

18. Ponderosa

19. Rio Linda

20. Franklin