ST. LOUIS — Another day, another 40-point win for Three Rivers.
The Raiders led by 11 points at halftime, then outscored Saint Louis CC 32-14 in the third quarter and 16-4 in the fourth to win 87-46 on Wednesday in St. Louis.
Three Rivers (4-0) has won each of its first four games by at least 41 points and by an average of 51 points.
The trend is likely to continue at least until the Region XVI opener against State Fair on Feb. 10 at the Libla Family Sports Complex. The No. 23rd ranked Raiders' only game between now and then is at home against Arkansas Baptist, whom they beat by 71 points last week in Little Rock.
"We've got to continue scoring in our half court offense. We do a great job scoring in transition and off turnovers, but we have to continue to work on our half court offense," Three Rivers coach Alex Wiggs said. "That's been our biggest struggle, is getting the offense going from the start."
Myia Yelder led Three Rivers with 22 points, six assists, six rebounds and four steals over a team-high 30 minutes Wednesday.
The sophomore point guard was 6 for 14 shooting and 7 for 10 on free throws.
Chaylea Mosby, who has been the Raiders' top 3-point shooter early in the season, had 20 points, six rebounds, three assists and two steals.
Mosby was 5 for 13 on 3-pointers and 6 for 15 overall. She is now shooting 48.6% on 3-pointers for the season.
"Chaylea, that second half got us going with a couple of 3s," Wiggs said.
Autumn Dodd came off the bench and got 15 points and a team-high five steals to go with four rebounds and three assists on 6 for 14 shooting. Jamiyah Thomas was 4 for 5 for 10 points in 10 minutes off the bench after not playing in the Raiders' previous two games.
Three Rivers' shooting improved from 31.8% to 41.0% in the second half, and 3-point shooting improved by more than 13% from the first half to the second.
"We were driving in there and taking contested shots instead of driving and kicking to the open person," Wiggs said. "We talked (at halftime) about making the correct adjustments to the press to get stops and get steals, and the girls did a really good job of making those adjustments."
Three Rivers has focused on turnovers after it committed more than 20 in its first two games, both against John A. Logan.
The Raiders cut that down to 17 on Saturday at Arkansas Baptist and committed just six against Saint Louis, with five of those in the first half.
"That was a huge focus for us. We've been doing a great job on our press and forcing teams into turnovers, but then we were having empty possessions," Wiggs said. "We can't get a steal and throw it out of bounds."
The Archers (1-2), who committed 28 turnovers, did not get a steal and finished with five points off turnovers. The Archers also struggled with two second-chance points and four points off the bench.
The Raiders, meanwhile, had 20 steals, 35 points off turnovers, were plus-24 on points in the paint, plus-19 on second-chance points and plus-32 on bench points.
Makayla Williams led Saint Louis with 14 points and six rebounds. Carsyn Beachy had 10 points and Kierra Winkeler had 13 rebounds to go with five points.
Scott Borkgren - Daily American Republic