A 10-0 run midway through the first quarter into the second was enough to push Vicksburg’s girls basketball team past Dowagiac, 45-33, in Wolverine Conference action on Friday.

The Chieftains fell behind, 14-4, after that Bulldogs spurt and spent the rest the evening struggling to sustain much offense. Dowagiac shot only 26-percent (13-of-49) from the field. Vicksburg also blocked seven of the Chieftains’ shots.

“We couldn’t make a shot from the field,” said Dowagiac coach Emily McLoughlin, whose team fell to 1-15 overall and 1-13 in the Wolverine Conference.

On the defensive end, the Chieftains couldn’t hold down the Bulldogs’ Tara Gloystein. Gloystein finished with 22 points, including two 3-pointers, which were the first six points during the 10-0 run. Another basket from Gloystein gave the visitors a 14-4 lead less than two minutes into the second quarter.

“I told our team before the game that we had to watch out for No. 4 (Gloystein),” McLoughlin said. “She had eight points early. She scored only eight or nine against us in the first game (a 40-37 Vicksburg win), but she’s a scorer. She’s going to make shots. We just lost her a couple times and she made some shots.”

Dowagiac went into halftime trailing, 24-15, after Vicksburg’s Tori Mutch made 1-of-2 free throws with :07 left in the second quarter.

Gloystein picked up her second foul with 2:00 left in the second quarter and sat out the rest of the first half. But the Chieftains were unable to take advantage of her sitting on the bench.

“Our defense hasn’t been bad,” McLoughlin said. “We gave up too many offensive rebounds in the first half. Then we couldn’t score on our end.”

Vicksburg, which shot only 31-percent (16-of-51) from the field, outrebounded Dowagiac, 35-26, with Erika Fojtik pulling down 10 boards to lead the Bulldogs.

There was a glimmer of hope to start the fourth quarter for Dowagiac. Kylee Williams’ 3-pointer and Correshia Rodgers’ basket cut Vicksburg’s lead to 34-28 with 6:38 left in the game. The Chieftains then had several opportunities to get even closer, but couldn’t convert on offense.

“We missed an easy in close jumper,” McLoughlin said. “Then, we missed another (in close jumper). We were putting a couple stops together on the defensive end. We just couldn’t get closer than six.”

Darby Truhn’s 3-point play gave Vicksburg a 37-28 lead with 4:44 left in the game and started a 9-0 run by the Bulldogs.

Free-throw shooting was also a problem for Dowagiac, which went 3-of-11 at the line, including 0-of-5 in the first half.

“That’s bad,” McLoughlin said. “The last two games we’ve been really good at the free-throw line, like 70 percent or above. I really don’t know what happened tonight. We went to the line in the first half and were 0-for-5 and didn’t have the focus. It could have changed the score at halftime if we would have made (free throws).”

Williams and Rodgers each scored nine points to lead Dowagiac. Williams made three 3-pointers, while Rodgers came off the bench to start the game and started to begin the second half.

VICKSBURG 45

Erika Fojtik 4 1-2 9, Tori Mutch 0 3-4 3, Darby Truhn 2 1-1 5, Erika Schmitz 3 0-1 6, Tara Gloystein 7 6-7 22, Gabby Miller 0 0-0 0, Anna Warren 0 0-0 0, Chelsea Flickinger 0 0-0 0, Amber Ballard 0 0-2 0. TOTALS: 16 11-17 45

DOWAGIAC 33

Kelsie Primley 1 2-5 5, Jessica Herthoge 0 0-0 0, Carly Polomcak 2 0-1 4, Kylee Williams 3 0-0 9, Kristyn Turner 2 0-0 4, Correshia Rodgers 4 1-3 9, Regina Kennedy 0 0-2 0, Rachel Bailey 1 0-0 2. TOTALS: 13 3-11 33

Vicksburg 10 24 34 45

Dowagiac 4 15 23 33

3-point bakets: Vicksburg 2 (Gloystein), Dowagiac 4 (Williams 3, Primley). Total fouls (fouled out): Vicksburg 11 (none), Dowagiac 17 (none). Shooting: Vicksburg 16-of-51 for 31-percent, Dowagiac 13-of-49 for 26-percent. Rebounding: Vicksburg 35 (Fojtik 10), Dowagiac 26 (Primley 7). Turnovers: Vicksburg 22, Dowagiac 19. Varsity records: Vicksburg 9-8, 8-6 Wolverine; Dowagiac 1-15, 1-13 Wolverine. J.V. score: Vicksburg 35, Dowagiac, 15