AUSTIN - St. Edward's women's basketball outscored Southwestern 52-19 in the second half on their way to a dominating 88-38 win Saturday afternoon. 

The SEU offense was slow to get going in the game and led by just five points at the end of the first quarter, 17-12. 

The Hilltoppers turned up the heat in the second quarter, pounding the ball in the paint, to steadily build their lead up. By the time the halftime buzzer sounded, St. Edward's had pushed their lead to 17, 36-19. SEU scored 24 points in the paint in the half and earned 19 points off turnovers. 

As the second half got underway, St. Edward's wasted no time getting to work, going up by 20, 46-26, by the media timeout. BELLA MUSCOREIL, assisted by MATILDA SORIC, started off the scoring at the outset of the fourth quarter. A 21-3 run allowed the Hilltoppers to lead by 52, 86-34, and cruise to the win. 

St. Edward's shot 53.7 percent from the floor and 40 percent from three-point range while holding Southwestern to just 27 percent from the floor and 26.3 percent from long range. SAMMIE DUFEK led the balanced attack with 18 points on 8-12 shooting from the floor. LAUREN CATHERMAN added 16 and HALEY BLANKINSHIP 13. 

An impressive team rebounding effort, SEU led 41-27 on the glass with three Hilltoppers grabbing five rebounds, AINSLEY THUNELL, MORGAN GARY and SAMMIE DUFEK. Catherman grabbed a team-high four steals. 

St. Edward's improves to 5-2 on the season while Southwestern drops to 4-5. SEU returns to action following an exhibition game at Texas A&M-Commerce on Sunday to face UT Permian Basin on the road on Thursday, December 9.