Looking to run at nearly every occasion, Northwestern eventually ran away from Aberdeen Christian for a girls’ basketball victory Thursday night.

The Wildcats exploded for 25-second quarter points on the way to a 60-35 Lake Region Conference victory at the Aberdeen Civic Arena.

“That’s one big thing that I’ve been stressing is we need to play Northwestern basketball instead to the tone the other team’s going to set, no matter who we’re playing on any given night,” said Northwestern coach Sydney Hammrich. “I thought we did that tonight. I thought we pushed the pace. We’re really good in transition when we get it done, and those are easy buckets.”

Orchestrating that pace was Northwestern point guard Tara Blachford, who consistently raced to the other end of the floor looking for transition opportunities, often times finding center Ashley Haven for high-percentage shots.

“We like going out fast and we like to get down the court. Coach is always yelling to push the ball up, so I’m always looking for our sides,” Blachford said. “Ashley’s always running up and down court, so I really try to look for everyone. It’s kind of fun when you go really fast and that’s what we did.”

While the Knights were able to stay within reach during the opening eight minutes, things quickly escalated in the second period as Northwestern went on a 14-2 surge to open a commanding 28-11 advantage.

“We just couldn’t keep up with them. They’re faster than us,” said Christian’s Jolie Fogarty. “We had a hard time matching up. It just took to long to find our girl.”

When Northwestern was forced to play in the half court, the Wildcats were definitely up to the task, nailing seven 3-pointers, including five in the second-quarter burst.

“They shot the ball really well unfortunately,” said Christian coach Matt Rohrbach, “which was something we really couldn’t afford to have happen.”

Again, it was Blachford who dished the ball off to teammates for open looks all over the floor.

“They’re quick,” Rohrbach said. “Man (Blachford) really gets up the floor fast.”

Blachford, who finished with 10 points, took satisfaction in seeing her teammates score.

“That’s what we’ve been really working on and hoping for. We talked about how the games would be changed if our shots would just fall and tonight they fell,” Blachford said. “It’s a really good feeling. Just seeing the rest of my teammates make them just warms the heart. It creates a happiness like none other.”

The junior was also a force on defense with numerous steals, but made sure to get team’s offense going in high gear.

“She’s a really good defender, but she also is a really good point guard, pushing that pace, getting the ball up the court to Ashley, getting it to ‘Soph,’ (Sophia Troske), getting it to Bree (Satter), and being able to attack,” Hammrich said. “That’s something we’ve been working on, and so it’s good to see them put it into motion, and in a game.”

Reserve Kyara Ratigan led a balanced attack for the Wildcats with 12 points. Troske followed with 11, and Ashley Haven and Lilly Haven each finished with nine.

Fogarty scored a game-high 15 points for the Knights, and Molleigh Hofer followed with seven.

Christian was hampered with 20 turnovers on the evening. Rohrbach said the Knights have to find a way to take some of the pressure off of Fogarty.

“They were kind of sending some girls at her,” Rohrbach said. “We’ve got do a little bit better job of helping her. … That falls on the whole team and coaching staff, and we’ll get it hopefully figured out for the postseason.”

The Knights, 2-12 on the season, head to Webster for a non-conference game on Saturday.

Forgarty said winning a pair of games recently has helped the team’s mindset heading into games.

“We’re coming into games more confident now, just ready to compete,” Fogarty said. “Even if we do get down, still make it a good game.”

NORTHWESTERN (9-5): Breelyn Satter 2 0-2 5, Tara Blachford 5 0-0 10, Ashley Haven 4 1-2 9, Sophia Troske 4 0-0 11, Taylor Vetter 1 0-0 3, Kyara Ratigan 5 1-2 12, Lilly Haven 3 2-2 9, Kylee Henjum 3 0-0 6. Totals 27-56 4-8 65.

ABERDEEN CHRISTIAN (2-12): Ari Johnson 0 3-4 3, Jolie Fogarty 4 4-6 15, Molleigh Hofer 3 0-0 7, Sophia Eichler 1 0-2 2, Lucy Jones 0 1-2 1, Reagan Jett 1 0-0 2. Totals 9-39 8-14 30.

Northwestern 14 39 57 65

Aberdeen Christian 9 20 27 30

3-point field goals – Satter, Troske 3, Vetter, Ratigan, L. Haven; Jolie Fogarty 3, Hofer. Total fouls – Northwestern 15; Aberdeen Christian 7. Rebounds – Northwestern 31 (Blachford 6, Ratigan 6); Aberdeen Christian 30 (Jett 9). Turnovers – Northwestern 8; Aberdeen Christian 20.