Seton Keough coach Jim Stromberg preaches defense over and over to his players.
Last night, they rewarded him.
The host and seventh-ranked Gators (21-1, 11-1) held St. Mary's scoreless 12 straight trips down the floor and went on a 19-0 run, to defeat the No. 13 Saints, 55-44, in a Catholic League game.
The run was led by junior Melanie Morris, who scored 17 of her 22 points in the fourth quarter, with all but six coming from the foul line.
The Gators held St. Mary's scoreless for more than nine minutes in the second half.
Annetta Davis lead St. Mary's (13-8, 6-5) with 15 points.
"I told them at the start of the season that offense wins games, but defense wins championships," said Stromberg, whose team held St. Mary's to only 16 second-half points.
"I don't think I've ever seen us play as well on defense as we did in the second half."
The Gators didn't look like a Top 20 team early, falling behind by as much as 11, 31-20 with 5:54 left in the third quarter.
After Stromberg was given a technical foul for walking on the court, the Gators woke up, going on the 19-0 run to turn a 33-23 deficit into a 42-33 lead.
"Our team has tried to focus on defense all year, and we knew we didn't play very well in the first half," said Morris. "We knew we had to open it up in the second half, and we did."
St. Mary's coach Harry Dobson said, "We had four turnovers in the first half, and 19 in the second. We gave them opportunities for second shots, and they just outplayed us in the second half.
"You have to play 32 minutes to win, not 16."
St. Mary's managed to cut the deficit to 44-37 with 2:56 left, but Morris was fouled by Davis while driving the lane.
Davis fouled out on the play and Morris' foul shot gave the Gators a 47-37 lead and pretty well finished the Saints. Morris made 11 of her 13 foul shots in the final quarter.
"She's a great player," Davis said of Morris. "She has another year left, and she'll really be good next year."
Stromberg knows the win was a big one for his team.
"It was amazing," he said. "I can't wait to go home and watch the tape and see it again."
Stromberg hopes the win will give his team some long-wanted respect.
"All we kept hearing all year was St. Frances and St. Mary's," he said.
"We figured we might as well play, and you see how we've responded."