EDWARDSBURG — A 23-1 start was more than enough to make a winner out of Edwardsburg Tuesday night in its girls’ basketball season opener.

The Lady Eddies (1-0) rolled to a 64-32 victory over visiting White Pigeon in a non-conference contest.

Ashley Streb got the first bucket of the season at the 6:25 mark of the opening quarter and the Eddies never looked back.

Edwardsburg used a balanced scoring attack to take a 29-8 advantage into the half.

Rachel Vite, Emily Kozinski and Mariah Murphy combined to score 24 of Edwardsburg’s 29 first half points. Vite led the way with 10, while Kozinski and Murphy had eight and six points respectively.

The Eddies scored inside, outside and at the free throw line. At the defensive end of the floor, Edwardsburg was pretty solid, although nine first half fouls did leave several players with two or more.

With the Eddies leading 15-0 with 7:39 to go in the first half, White Pigeon’s Amy Nussbaum hit one of two free throws to stop the Edwardsburg run.

It would be another four minutes before the Chiefs scored again. Their first basket of the contest would come with 1:46 to play in the first half on a shot by Sara Anderson.

White Pigeon came out and outscored the Eddies 14-12 in the third quarter, but Edwardsburg regouped and put together a strong final quarter to pull away.

Leading 41-22 heading into the final period, the Eddies exploded for 23 points and held the Chiefs to just 10.

“I was pleased to get the first win under our belts heading into the conference opener on Friday,” Edwardsburg coach Nicole Cartwright said. “It was a great team effort. I was very happy with the balanced offensive attack and the defensive intensity.”

Kozinski ended up leading all scorers with 17 points, while Vite finished with 16. Edwardsburg also got 10 points from Murphy and seven points from Ashley Streb.

Vite also had 10 rebounds, while Streb had seven assists and six steals.

White Pigeon was led by Amy Nussbaum with nine points. Emily Abbs added seven and Nicolette Kershner six.

Edwardsburg begins Lakeland Conference play on Friday night when it hosts Buchanan.

WHITE PIGEON 32

Sara Anderson 2 0-2 5; Rachel Brock 1 0-0 2; Emily Abbs 2 3-3 7; Jordan Phelps 0 0-0 0; Amy Nussbaum 2 5-8 9; Nicollete Kershner 3 0-2 6; Ashley Eash 0 0-0 0; Atty Floo 0 3-6 3. TOTALS: 10 11-21 32

EDWARDSBURG 64

Rachel Vite 7 2-4 16; Jill Blough 0 0-0 0; Emily Kozinski 8 0-0 17; Hannah Hack 0 2-2 2; Sarah D’Amico 2 0-0 4; Ashley Streb 3 1-2 7; Branda Fleischauer 1 0-0 2. Mariah Murphy 5 0-0 10; Brooke Portwood 3 0-0 6. TOTALS: 29 5-8 64

White Pigeon 0 8 22 32

Edwardsburg 15 29 41 64

3-point baskets: White Pigeon 1 (Anderson), Edwardsburg 1 (Kozinski). Total fouls: White Pigeon 7, Edwardsburg 22. Fouled out: D’Amico (E). Varsity records: Edwardsburg 1-0, White Pigeon 0-1

Kalamazoo Central…59

Niles 72

The Niles girls’ basketball team opened its 2010-11 season with a 72-59 win over visiting Kalamazoo Central in a Big 16 Conference non-divisional contest Tuesday night.

The Lady Vikings (1-0) and the Maroon Giants were knotted at 14-14 after one period of play, however, Niles outscored Kalamazoo Central 18-8 in the pivotal second quarter to break the contest open.

Leading 32-22 at the break, Niles came out and scored whopping 27 points in the third quarter to take a commanding 59-34 advantage to the fourth quarter.

The Maroon Giants (0-1) poured in 25 points in the final eight minutes, but it wasn’t enough to catch the Vikings, who netted 13 points in the fourth quarter.

Maureen Craig scored a career-high 23 points as she canned six 3-pointers and was 3-of-4 from the free throw line.

Niles also got 16 points from Alexis McIntee, 12 points from Nichole Sly and 11 points from Savannah Wolnik.

McIntee also had five rebounds, two assists and two steals, while Sly had 13 rebounds, five assists and two steals. Wolnik added eight rebounds, two assists and five steals.

Kandic Johnson led the Maroon Giants with 18 points. Tyra Carver also reached double digits with 12 points.

KALAMAZOO 59

Kandice Johnson 7 4-8 18; Ar’chay Alexander-Green 4 0-2 8; Brooklyn Washington 1 0-2 2; Ali Russo 1 0-0 3; Asia Robeson 2 1-3 5; Tyra Carver 4 4-6 12; Ashleigh Hudson 1 2-2 5; Annie Deering 1 0-0 2; Tori Boone 2 0-1 4. TOTALS: 23 11-24 59

NILES 71

Starr Ford 1 -0 2; Alexis McIntee 7 2-10 16; Savannah Wolnik 0 11-20 11; Maureen Craig 7 3-4 23; Nichole Sly 1 10-12 12; Whitney Ellis 2 0-0 4; Michelle Briand 2 0-0 4. TOTALS: 20 25-46 72

Kalamazoo 14 22 34 59

Niles 14 32 59 72

3-point baskets: Kalamazoo Central 2 (Russo, Hudson), Niles 6 (Craig 6). Total fouls: Kalamazoo Central 29, Niles 23. Varsity records: Kalmazoo Central 0-1, Niles 1-0