ARMSTRONG — The North Union Warriors combined full-court basketball-hawking defense with unselfish passing and accurate shooting to trample the North Iowa Bison during a Friday night Top of Iowa Conference clash.

Morningside College commit Chloe Lofstrom produced a game-best double-double performance of 24 points and 14 rebounds to engineer North Union’s 77-20 rout over North Iowa in Armstrong.

“We played good balanced team basketball tonight,” said Warriors’ head coach Merle Tigges, whose lineup distributed 20 assists and pocketed 20 steals to limit the Bison to an abysmal 18.9 percent field-goal shooting for four 8-minute quarters. “Our defensive intensity established the early tone and then we recognized where to move it (basketball) to in order to get good looks at the basket.”

Hope Steinberger, Brooklyn Prochniak and Vanessa Von Bank combined for seven first-quarter thefts in the backcourt to help serve as the catalyst behind the Warriors’ game-opening 14-0 surge.

Steinberger, who topped all defenders by pick-pocketing five passes, turned up the defensive heat in the backcourt and transformed a steal into an assist to May Laverty for the conference contest’s initial basket.

Prochniak then garnered one of her four steals and fed Vanessa Von Bank for two of her nine points before Prochniak finished what she started by converting a baseline theft into a 2-point basket.

Lofstrom then worked the low post for a putback bucket, Vanessa Von Bank penetrated the lane before dealing a kickout pass to Laverty for a left-corner deuce, Steinberger intercepted a North Iowa pass and flipped to Prochniak for the lay-in, and Lofstrom banked home another offensive rebound to cap the Warriors’ 14-0 lead.

Point guard Danessa Bruner finally ended the Bison’s offensive drought by draining a 25-foot trifecta off a Hannah Main pass with 4:20 remaining in the opening quarter.

Leah Kramersmeier knocked down another 3-pointer for North Iowa before Lofstrom triggered a 15-0 offensive outburst that staked North Union to an overwhelmining 29-6 margin at the quarter break.

Lofstrom sank two free throws, Lily Henderson spotted Vanessa Von Bank for a left-corner trey, Casside Beadle dropped home two charity tosses, and Sam Nielsen delivered back-to-back baskets in the paint for four of her 10 points off the Warriors’ bench.

Nielsen’s baseline leaner widened the home team’s lead to 25-6 with 36 seconds remaining in the first frame before Henderson stole the ensuing inbound pass and scored a layup six seconds later. Olivia Von Bank hit a putback shot to beat the first-quarter buzzer and create a 23-point gap.

Ironically, Bruner nailed two 3s for six of the Bison’s seven second-quarter points before Lofstrom supplied late scoring heroics for the Warriors prior to intermission.

Laverty spotted Lofstrom in the low post for a traditional 3-point play with 36 seconds remaining in the second frame before Vanessa Von Bank’s entry pass to Lofstrom allowed the North Union center to bank home a leaner before the halftime horn.

“Our overall execution was good tonight as we excelled at nearly every phase of the game,” said Tigges.

Nielsen also grabbed six boards to complement her 10-point performance for the Warriors, while Prochniak and Vanessa Von Bank contributed nine points apiece. Laverty tallied six points, while Steinberger produced steady all-around numbers of five points, five steals and three assists.

Samantha Stenersen grabbed 10 rebounds to top North Iowa.

North Union (2-0) travels to Forest City, Iowa, on Tuesday night, while North Iowa (0-3) plays host to Rockford in Buffalo Center, Iowa.

NIA 6 7 7 0 — 20

NU 29 19 19 10 — 77

NORTH UNION (77)

Lofstrom 8-13 8-9 24, Steinberger 2-3 0-0 5, Laverty 3-3 0-0 6, Prochniak 4-8 0-0 9, V. Von Bank 3-10 1-2 9, Nielsen 5-7 0-0 10, Henderson 2-8 0-0 4, Beadle 0-2 2-2 2, O. Von Bank 2-4 1-2 5, Cummins 1-5 0-0 3, Engelby 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 30-65 12-15 77.

NORTH IOWA (20)

Hughes 0-3 0-0 0, Jensvold 0-3 0-0 0, Stenersen 0-2 0-0 0, Main 0-10 1-4 1, Bruner 5-12 0-0 14, Kramersmeier 2-5 0-0 5, Duve 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 7-37 1-4 20.

3-pointers: North Iowa 5-15 (Bruner 4-9, Kramers-meier 1-1, Hughes 0-2, Duve 0-2, Main 0-1); North Union 5-17 (V. Von Bank 2-9, Steinberger 1-1, Cummins 1-1, Prochniak 1-3, Beadle 0-1, Engelby 0-1). Fouled out: None. Rebounds: North Union 35 (Lofstrom 14); North Iowa 26 (Stenersen 10). Assists: North Union 20 (Prochniak 5, V. Von Bank and Henderson 4 each); North Iowa 3 (Main 2). Steals: North Union 20 (Steinberger 5, V. Von Bank 4); North Iowa 3.

St. James Area 49, Martin County West 48 — Chloe Mickelson made the second of two free throw attempts with seven-tenths of a second remaining in regulation to help the Saints squeeze by the Mavericks on Friday night in St. James.

St. James Area rallied from a narrow 29-27 halftime deficit to capture the nonconference victory over MCW.

Sami Meyer produced 14 points and pulled down five rebounds to pace the Mavericks, while Kari Matejka contributed 12 points to the visitors’ effort.

Marissa Whitehead netted eight points and Emily Dunlop grabbed four rebounds for the Mavericks, who made 13 of 34 shots from 2-point range for 38 percent. MCW also connected on 7 of 16 attempts from behind the 3-point arc for 43 percent, and added a 5-for-9 effort at the free throw line.

Martin County West (0-2) plays host to St. Clair on Tuesday night in Sherburn.

Lake Crystal-Wellcome Memorial 68, Blue Earth Area 34 — Alexis Cloyd erupted for a game-leading 24 points to engineer the Knights’ 34-point non-league triumph over the Bucs on Friday night in Lake Crystal.

Arika Howard generated eight points to top Blue Earth Area.

Blue Earth Area (0-1) travels to Jackson today to play Worthington in a Big South Conference Showcase game at 11:30 a.m.