FAIRMONT — The Fairmont Cardinals held the St. James Saints to only nine first-half points for a 65-23 Big South Conference girls basketball win on Tuesday.

“It was fun to see everybody playing well as a team. All the girls — even our subs — came in and gave us positive things on the court,” Cardinals head coach Don Waletich said.

Senior guard Taylor Crissinger, who finished with a game-high double-double of 13 points and 11 rebounds, started the team’s effort by scoring five of the team’s first eight points. The team then used the Saints’ foul trouble to net six points at the free throw line.

Saints sophomore guard Zoie Becker broke up the Cardinals’ scoring with a long jumper at the 8:53 mark for a 14-4 score. Senior forward Alexandra Castro later netted a trey off a feed from Jadyn Anderson. The Cardinals ended the half outscoring the visiting Saints, 16-2, which included a buzzer-beating shot from junior forward Claire Cutler for the 36-9 lead.

The Cardinals added on to their lead after the break with junior center Alli Lardy getting a layup at the 17:31 mark. Junior forward Brenna Cutler later banked in a 3-pointer via Lexi Lunn’s inbounds pass to put the Cardinals up, 47-11.

“Brenna Cutler came in and gave us a great spark tonight,” Waletich said. “She was dominant on rebounds and was playing hard for us, so that was good to see.”

Brenna Cutler ended the game with 11 points and six rebounds. With 12:46 remaining in the game, Brenna Cutler stripped the ball away from the Saints, and Crissinger used the theft for another two points.

Cardinals sophomore guard Whitney Scott put the game away with a 3 for a final score of 65-23. Claire Cutler provided the team with nine points and six rebounds. The Cardinals’ bench combined to score 29 of the team’s points.

Fairmont (7-3) travels to New Ulm for another Big South Conference contest at 7:30 p.m. Thursday.

FAIRMONT (65)

Taylor Crissinger 5-15 3-4 13, Brenna Cutler 2-3 6-7 11, Claire Cutler 4-10 1-5 9, Lexi Lunn 2-8 2-4 6, Alli Lardy 2-3 2-2 6, Abby DeWitt 0-7 4-6 4, Brooke Hunwardsen 2-8 0-0 4, Mallory Mosloski 1-3 1-2 3, Whitney Scott 1-2 0-0 3, Jen Moeller 2-5 0-0 2, Jenna Gustafson 1-1 0-0 2, Chloe Murphy 0-0 0-0 0, Abby Tonder 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 22-65 19-30 65.

ST. JAMES (23)

Alexandra Castro 3-10 0-0 8, Zoie Becker 2-5 0-0 4, Maddie Brey 1-2 0-0 3, Renata Hernandez 1-6 0-2 2, Jadyn Anderson 1-6 0-0 2, Marne Skarphol 1-6 0-1 2, Chloe Mickelson 1-6 0-0 2, Kaydi Anderson 0-1 0-0 0, Noemi Castaneda 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 10-42 0-3 23.

3-pointers: St. James 3-16 (Castro 2-8, Brey 1-1, Becker 0-1, Mickelson 0-1, Hernandez 0-2, Skarphol 0-3); Fairmont 2-15 (B. Cutler 1-2, Scott 1-2, Moeller 0-1, Lunn 0-2, Hunwardsen 0-2, Crissinger 0-2, DeWitt 0-4). Fouled out: None. Rebounds: Fairmont 42 (Crissinger 11, B. Cutler, C. Cutler Mosloski 6 each); St. James 28 (Hernandez 8, Anderson 6). Assists: 5; St. James 1. Steals: Fairmont 28 (DeWitt, Lunn 6 each); St. James 13 (Skarphol 4).

Fairmont’s B-squad team defeated St. James, 41-5, on Tuesday. Abby Tonder pocketed 10 points, while Kaitlyn Freese and Whitney Scott each chipped in six points.

Fairmont took a 46-7 win over St. James during C-squad action on Tuesday. Brynn Miller and Faith Olsen each provided Fairmont with 10 points.

St. Peter 52, Blue Earth Area 38 — Olivia McCabe scored 16 points to lift the Saints over the Bucs during Big South Conference play on Tuesday in St. Peter. The Saints built a 28-18 lead at the half.

Sienna Wiebusch added nine points, while Jacey Welp recorded eight points.

Caitlin Rorman led the Bucs with 14 points.

Blue Earth Area (4-6) plays at St. James on Thursday, while St. Peter (7-1) plays host to Waseca on Thursday.

Hill-Murray 53, Martin County West 37 — The Pioneers used a 24-15 halftime advantage to beat the Mavericks during nonleague play on Tuesday in Trimont.

Sierra Williamson finished with a Mavericks-leading 13 points, shooting 5-for-6 from the floor, to go along with nine rebounds. Hunter Wrightson notched 10 points, while Alyssa Williamson added eight points and six rebounds. Karlee Thiesse crashed the boards for six rebounds and Renae Eckmann doled out three assists.

As a team, the Mavericks made 13 of 42 shots, including 11 of 30 from 2-point range, and went 9-for-17 from the charity stripe.

Martin County West (6-2) plays at Minnehaha Academy on Friday.