Lewis had 15 points in the first half and racked up 26 more in the second to finish with a New Ulm girls single-game record 41 points as the Eagles ran away with an 87-61 win in a Big South Conference girls basketball game.

Brooklyn Lewis also had 11 rebounds, four steals and three assists to lead the Eagles. Her buzzer-beating 3 was her first 3 of the game, but she added five more 3s to her milestone night in the second half.

As she began racking up points, her teammates were more than happy to continue getting the ball to her, something the senior said was just a part of the team’s bond.

“It’s just really my teammates,” Brooklyn Lewis said. “None of us discourage each other, we’re so encouraging and supportive of each other, which kind of makes us a family. We know that none of us are gonna get mad at each other, and then just being able to be coached by my father is really a lot of fun and I really enjoy it. We get to spend time together and bond, so just having such a supportive crew.”

Staff photo by Travis Rosenau New Ulm’s Jordan Boettger takes a jump shot during Friday night’s Big South Conference girls basketball game against St. Peter at New Ulm High School.

Leah Brustad added 17 points, five rebounds and three blocks for the Eagles, while Maggie Joyce finished with 17 points and four rebounds despite picking up her fourth foul early in the second half.

The Saints were led by Ella Dirks’ 19 points.

The Eagles pressed most of the first half, but they weren’t able to create much chaos out of that as the Saints routinely had an answer for every New Ulm bucket. After the Eagles took a 24-21 lead, the Saints got a corner 3 by Audrey Menning and a Kylie Southworth-to-Rowyn Myhra fast-break bucket to take a 26-24 lead. A steal for a layup by Myhra had the Saints up 28-24 late in the first half.

But a major momentum swing in the Eagles’ favor ended the first half. After a 3 from Jordan Boettger tied it with less than a minute to go, the Eagles took the lead back on another 3 from Brustad. That Brustad 3 had an unconventional assist from Riley Wilson, who was trapped near the 3-point line by a pair of St. Peter defenders. Wilson managed to throw a pass from her knee to Brustad in the corner, who sank the 3 to put the Eagles up 34-31.

Brooklyn Lewis then put an exclamation point on the half and smiles on her and her teammates’ faces with a long buzzer-beating 3 to put the Eagles up 37-31 at halftime.

The Eagles no longer pressed in the second half, instead focusing on the half-court game and figuring out St. Peter’s defense.

“We saw a weak spot in their zone and we just kind of had to wait until halftime to make the adjustment because we had to work through it,” Eagles head coach Mitch Lewis said. “We ended up putting Maggie in the high post and left her there, she’d screen the top of the zone, we give her the ball. We had a lot of high-low action from Maggie and Leah. Maggie came out in the second half, hit a bunch of jumpers, kind of opened things up.”

After a steal of a layup by Brooklyn Lewis, St. Peter got a straightaway 3 from Auen Anderson to have the Saint down 48-38. But Brooklyn Lewis had an answer to that 3 seconds later with a corner 3. Moments later, Brooklyn Lewis and Wilson each hit a 3 and a spin-move layup by Brooklyn Lewis put the Eagles firmly in command and up 59-39. Brooklyn Lewis reached 41 points on the night on a 3 to give the Eagles a 77-53 lead.

New Ulm’s largest lead of the night was 87-59 after a free throw from Lexie Goff.

While defense often leads to offense, the Eagles flipped that around and found success Friday.

“Our first half, our defensive end wasn’t as good as we hold it to,” Brooklyn Lewis said. “Our team is defense. Our offense comes from defense. In the beginning we didn’t have a lot of the energy on defense. And I think that once we got some shots to go, the defense picked up and that’s what really got everybody going at the end.”

New Ulm (3-1, 2-1) is at Belle Plaine for another conference game on Tuesday, while St. Peter (3-2, 1-2) hosts Worthington on Tuesday.