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NEW ULM - One might call the defense of the Springfield Tigers girls basketball team a stalking stuffer.

The Tigers smothering swarm held the New Ulm Cathedral Greyhounds to just 18 points in the second half and turned a seven-point halftime deficit into a 60-52 win.

"We have not been very good defensively, so the defense in the second half is something we really have to build on," Springfield coach Paul Arnoldi said. "At halftime, we talked about getting our shots down the floor and playing solid defense. We worked really hard on the press in practice."

For the Greyhounds, it's the fifth game in a row coach Jeremy Drexler says the team has struggled. "The girls were just losing focus a little bit," Drexler said.

"We let them dictate the pressure," Drexler said. "We let them back in it the last two minutes of the first half and we knew they were going to come out pressing in the second half, because that's what good teams do. There was a stretch in the first half that was as good as we've played all year. We just have to keep working and get better."

The Tigers press was certainly working in the early stages of the game, as it was the main cause of eight Cathedral turnovers in the first five minutes. Add in four buckets by the Tigers Tiana Runck and it looked like Springfield's 13-7 lead might be the beginning of a rout.

Down 15-11, the Greyhounds suddenly began to take advantage of Katie Savoy's height advantage inside, and the 6-foot senior was responsible for the next nine Cathedral points as the Greyhounds reversed fortunes and took a 20-15 lead.

Cathedral also turned the tables on the Tigers by playing some fine defense of their own, causing Springfield to miss most of the shots it was able to take. Savoy then passed the offensive torch to Kasey Bode, who scored nine of the Greyhounds next 11 points to give them a 31-19 lead with halftime approaching.

While Springfield rebounded with a 9-3 run of their own, Cathedral still went into halftime up 34-27 while shooting 12-for-17 at the free throw line as the Tigers went just 4-for-8.

The opening of the second half looked like a replay of the first, as Springfield scored a quick five points, four by Elizabeth Roiger, off three forced Greyhounds turnovers.

A layup by Runck would knot the game at 36-36, the first of four ties that were interspersed by Cathedral leads of three and Tigers leads of one and two points.

With the scoreboard showing 48-48, Springfield tightened the vise and would cause eight more Cathedral turnovers. After a Carli Arnoldi steal and layup put the Tigers up 50-48, Runck would score four and make it 54-48.

After Val Lux hit two freebies to cut that lead to 54-50, another Arnoldi steal and a lay-up by Runck with less than two minutes left in the game sealed the fate for the Greyhounds.

Runck led all scorers with 22 points, while Roiger had 13 and Emily Scholtz scored 10. Lux led Cathedral with 19 points, while Bode scored 13 and Savoy had 11.

The win ups the Tigers record to 4-1, 3-1 in the Tomahawk Conference, while the Greyhounds drop to 2-5.

Springfield resumes action on Monday night, January 4, at 7:30 on the road at Wabasso, while Cathedral's next game is Tuesday, January 5 at home against Sleepy Eye.