St. Viator's 3-point barrage does in Conant

Like it has often in this young season, St. Viator's girls basketball dialed long distance in the Cahill Gymnasium on Tuesday night.

And once again, the signal was loud and clear.

The Lions converted on 13-of-25, falling one short of their season-high 14 3-pointers against Jacobs, en route to a 63-43 nonconference win over visiting Conant.

Leading the way was freshman Nora Ahram, who fired home four 3-pointers and finished with 18 points.

Senior Elise Horbach tossed in three 3-pointers for all 9 of her points while sophomore Emma Morrissey (10 points) and freshman Joy Bergstrom (9 points) each had two 3-pointers.

Seniors Cara Denten and Natalie Krause each added one for the Lions (7-1), who now have 83 3-pointers in eight games.

"Even when someone is off, we have other people who can hit them," Krause said. "Our freshmen (Bergstrom and Ahram) are really stepping up and hitting them. The team is really coming together."

Viator started the game with a 9-1 run as Ahram book-ended the streak with 3-pointers. Viator had 10 3-pointers in the first half.

"I thought everyone shared the basketball extremely well, and that obviously led to those to the 3-pointers, a lot which came off great looks," said Lions coach Jason Raymond. "I loved our defensive intensity in the first half. Everyone was locked into the game plan, bringing energy, diving after loose balls and getting a lot of deflections. I thought our defensive pressure was the key to setting the tone."

Conant (2-6) wasn't so bad from 3-point land, either, converting nine in the game.

The Cougars were led by senior Stephanie Mazurek (game-high 19 points), who had 17 in the second half and hit four 3-pointers in the game's final 10 minutes.

"Stephanie really played well," said Conant coach Todd Strauch. "She shot the ball with confidence which is a big change for her. If she does that, she is a pretty good shooter, She is so aggressive, and so athletic and that really helps out."

Neeha Kakuturu and Julia Flaishaker each chipped in 6 points for the Cougars.

Strauch was hardly surprised by the Lions' perimeter shooting.

"We knew coming in they could shoot the ball," he said. "We didn't do well closing out in the first half, and they do such a great job of moving the ball around. They're really unselfish. That leads to 3-pointers and they knock them down in bunches."