Morgan Mathiowetz’s triple-double came with a game-high 32 points, 11 assists and 12 steals. She also had six rebounds.

Olivia Schieffert added 17 points and seven rebounds for the Knights, while Natalie Fischer scored 11 points, all in the first half. Taylor Mathiowetz had 5 points, while Audra Hoffmann had 4 points and six rebounds and Sidney Tauer chipped in 4 points.

WEM was led by Addison Condon’s 20 points, while Kaitlyn LaFrance hit four 3s for 12 points.

The Bucs may have gotten on the board first with free throws from Alix Velzke, but the Knights took command after that, getting their first double-digit lead after Morgan Mathiowetz stole a pass and dished it off to Olivia Schieffert for a fast-break bucket and 15-5 lead.

Staff photo by Travis Rosenau Sleepy Eye St. Marys’ Olivia Schieffert (2) drives in for a layup during a nonconference girls basketball game against WEM Saturday afternoon at St. Mary’s High School.

The Knights tested their press with around 10 minutes left in the half and it was met with instant success as a steal and layup by Morgan Mathiowetz put the Knights up 23-10. Another WEM turnover led to 3 by Morgan Mathiowetz, who quickly ended up getting another layup for a 28-10 lead.

“One of our strengths is obviously get up and go,” Knights assistant coach Ashley Schieffert said. “We’re a quick team, we’re a fast team, so just thought it would be kind of beneficial to get a little pressure on the ball, trying to challenge your ball handlers a little bit and sometimes we do better when we can get some transition buckets instead of stuck in our half-court.”

WEM stopped the Knights’ scoring run with a 3 from LaFrance, but Tauer answered with a bucket inside off an assist from Morgan Mathiowetz. Minutes later, Morgan Mathiowetz found Taylor Mathiowetz with a bounce pass for a layup and a jumper from Morgan Mathiowetz put the Knights up 39-19.

The Knights ended the half on a 9-0 run to lead 50-24 at the break, with the run starting on a 3 by Fischer and ending on a steal and spin-move bucket inside by Morgan Mathiowetz.

While the Knights ended their invite 2-0 with Friday’s win over BOLD and Saturday’s win over WEM, Saturday’s win wasn’t as spotless as it originally looked to be. As turnovers and missed bunnies started picking up for the Knights in the second half, the Bucs hung around and cut their deficit to 21, 64-43, following a 6-0 run that was capped off on a bucket inside from Rachel Mielke.

“Early in the season, we’ve had two weeks of practice, so we’ve got some conditioning in but obviously playing games back to back this weekend, so we’re just trying to find our rhythm,” coach Schieffert said of the Knights’ slower second half. “Going 100% is a lot different in a game than practice even. So I think we were just fatigued, I think it’s gonna take us a little bit to get in shape, but looking forward to the season.”

Morgan Mathiowetz helped stop that WEM run from getting any further as she had back-to-back assists to Tauer and Olivia Schieffert for a 68-43 lead with less than four minutes to play. Hoffmann scored back-to-back buckets following a timeout to give the Knights a 72-43 lead, and WEM got its final bucket inside by Brooklyn Novak. The Knights finished off the scoring with a free throw from Morgan Mathiowetz and a bucket in the paint from Grace Hoffmann, making that the largest lead of the game.

St. Mary’s (2-0) travels to St. James for a nonconference game Monday night, while WEM (0-2) hosts Hayfield/Schaeffer Academy on Tuesday night.

Note: This story and its photos will be printed in Tuesday’s edition of The Journal.