ELSAH, Ill. - Webster University scored a season high 52 first half points here Tuesday evening en route to posting an 89-45 win over Principia College in St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference action at Hay Field House on the Principia campus.

With the victory, Webster wins its second straight game and improves its overall record to .500 on the season at 6-6 and moves to 4-1 in the SLIAC. Principia falls to 0-9 overall and 0-5 in the SLIAC and pushes its losing skid to 25 consecutive games dating to the 2017-18 season.

In Tuesday's game, the Gorloks scored 23 points in the first period and tallied 29 points in the period to hold a 52-15 lead at the half. Webster would then score 25 points in the third period to hold a 77-33 lead heading into the final period. The 52 points first half points bettered the previous season high of 51 in the Gorloks 80-60 win on Dec. 9 at Greenville University.

Senior guard Jaysea Morgan (Fisk, Mo./Twin Rivers) led the way offensively for the Gorloks as she tallied 13 points, five assists and three steals in the win. Morgan, who scored all of her points in the first half and pushed her career scoring total to 823 points, was one 14 players that scored in the game as all 14 players that suited up for the Gorloks played at least six minutes, including 11 players totaling double-digit minutes. 

Along with Morgan, who has now led the Gorloks in scoring the last two games, junior guard Naomi Johnson (St. Louis, Mo./Greenville University) added 11 points, while sophomore guard Hannah Cottrell (Steelville, Mo./Steelville) had 10 points and four assists. Sophomore forward Addison Beussink (Jackson, Mo./Saxony Lutheran), junior guard Kiara Rhines (Glendale, Ariz./Ironwood) and freshman guard Tiffany Sakamoto (St. Louis, Mo./Saint Joseph Academy) each had nine points, while sophomore forward Taylor Zarr (St. Louis, Mo./Oakville) and freshman forward Julie Baudendistel (St. Louis, Mo./Lindbergh) both tallied seven points for the Gorloks. 

Webster jumped out to a 15-0 lead just three minutes into the game and held the Panthers scoreless for nearly four-plus minutes until Nikki Matters scored on a lay-up with 6:29 left in the opening period. After Baudendistel hit a trey with 4:16 left in the period to give WU a 20-4 lead, Principia would score six straight points to cut Webster's lead to 20-10.

The Gorloks would close the opening period on a free throw by Cottrell and a lay-up by Baudendistel to give Webster a 23-10 lead after the first 10 minutes. 

Webster would open the second period on a 19-0 run to push out to a 42-10 advantage following a basket by Sakamoto with 5:23 left in the period. During the run, Morgan scored eight of her 13 points. 

Principia would finally stop WU's run on a basket in the paint by Hannah Hathaway with 5:09 left in the period. Following Hathaway's basket, the Gorloks responded with an 8-0 run to push its lead to 50-12 with 1:50 remaining. The run began with a basket from sophomore guard Lauryn Freeman (Fort Worth, Texas/Timber Creek) and ended with a basket by Zarr. 

The two teams would trade points over the final 50 seconds of the period to give the Gorloks a 52-15 halftime lead. The 37 point halftime lead was the largest of the season for the Gorloks. 

Webster, who has now won 17 of the last 19 games in the series against Principia, would use a 14-4 run over a span of nearly five minutes in the third period to push its lead to 47 point at 66-19 following 1-of-2 free throws by Johnson. After Hathaway, who scored 10 of her game high 20 points in the third period, scored a basket to stop WU's run, the Gorloks responded with a 10-4 run capped by a basket from Sakamoto with 1:23 left in the period. Sakamoto's basket gave the Gorloks a 76-27 lead. 

The Panthers would close the period on a 6-1 run to cut Webster's lead to 77-33 heading into the fourth period. 

In the fourth period, Webster's lead reached 50 points at 87-37 following a lay-up by freshman guard Christina Branche (Rio Linda, Calif./Monterery Trail) with three minutes left in the game. In the period, both teams scored 12 points each to set the final margin.

For the game, Webster shot 47 percent from the field and 35 percent from the 3-point line and dished out a season high 26 assists, including a career high five assists from sophomore forward Courtney Ragland (New Athens, Ill./New Athens). In all, 13 of the 14 Gorloks that saw action recorded an assist in the win. 

Webster's defense held the Panthers to 29 percent shooting from the floor and 14 percent from the 3-point line and forced Principia into 29 turnovers that led to 39 points for the Gorloks. Webster had a season low 12 turnovers, including just four turnovers after halftime. 

In addition, Webster held a 43-41 edge on the boards as Ragland led the way with a career high seven boards in a career high 22 minutes of action, while Beussink added five boards and Baudendistel and Sakamoto each had four boards. 

Along with Hathaway's 20 points and 10 rebounds, Matters added 11 points, while Beka Petersen pulled down a game high 11 rebounds in the loss. 

Webster will look to make its three straight wins this coming Saturday, Jan. 11 as the Gorloks return home to Grant Gymnasium for a 1 p.m. SLIAC Game of the Week contest against Westminster (Mo.) College (4-7 overall, 3-1 SLIAC).