SAN ANTONIO - The No. 14/15 Angelo State women's basketball team used a strong first half to defeat East Central 76-54 on Saturday at the St. Mary's Thanksgiving Classic in San Antonio.

The Belles (3-0) outrebounded the Tigers (1-5) 40-25 and scored 16 second chance points. Angelo State set a season high in free throws made and attempted with 28-of-34 and forced a season high 27 turnovers. The 27 turnovers resulted in 28 points for the Belles. It is the third straight game ASU has held an opponent to single digits in a quarter.

"Today we played on of the best halves of the season so far," Angelo State head women's basketball coach Kevin Baker said. "I really felt we executed well on offense and defended to a plan. We relaxed a little in the second half but I thought Coach Cole's ECU squad came out in the second half and played well."

Taylor Dorsey recorded her third-straight game with at least 20 points with 26. The Fort Worth native led the team with five assists as well. Madi Greenwood scored a career high 15 points with nine points coming from the free throw line and Lexi Murphy added 12 points and seven rebounds. It is the third straight game in double figures for Murphy.

The Belles jumped out quickly in the first quarter with a huge 20-0 run. Dorsey scored 16 of her game high 26 points including the first 14 points.  ECU was held scoreless until the 2:41 mark of the first quarter and was held to 33.3-percent shooting. ASU hit 64.3-percent from the field and made 8-of-9 from the charity stripe.

ASU jumped out to a 36-12 advantage in the second quarter after a jumper from Bria Frierson. A 37-19 ASU lead would balloon after a 3-pointer by Keanna Kelly at the 3:45 mark sparked a 12-4 run to close out the half. Bethany Ross, Murphy and Greenwood would add points during the run to go in up 49-24 at the break.

ECU came out in the third quarter and limited ASU to just 10 points. The Belles defense responded to hold the Tigers to 13 and maintain a 59-37 lead going into the fourth quarter. ASU used the free throw line to its advantage in the fourth quarter hitting 10-of-12. Dorsey continued scoring in the fourth quarter with a 3-pointer for a 67-42 advantage. A layup by the senior at the 3:11 mark gave ASU its biggest lead of the game at 72-43.

The Belles will make their home debut at Stephens Arena in the Junell Center on Tuesday, Nov. 29 at 5:30 p.m. to host Texas A&M-Kingsville for their Lone Star Conference opener.