Staff report

SALISBURY — After a shaky first quarter, Catawba’s women’s basketball played three good ones on Wednesday.

Lyrik Thorne scored 31 points to lead an 80-47 romp against Limestone at Goodman Arena. It was the 31st straight win at home for the Indians.

Ranked 17th in the Division II Coaches Poll, Catawba will try hard to erase the first quarter from the memory banks. The Indians turned it over seven times, didn’t shoot well when they did get a shot and trailed Limestone, one of the South Atlantic Conference’s bottom teams, 15-10.

But the Indians scored the first eight points of the second quarter to take charge. They buried Limestone 27-9 in that decisive quarter and took a 37-23 lead to the halftime break.

Catawba shot well the last three quarters and made 11 3-pointers for the game. Thorne made four long ones. She also had four assists.

The Indians, who stayed on top in the SAC, had a big edge on the boards. Limestone had only five offensive rebounds.

Catawba also enjoyed a humongous 28-14 advantage in the turnover battle. Thorne handles it a lot and turned it over only twice in 31 minutes.

Catawba (19-4, 14-3) got 12 points off the bench from Nala Baker.

Kalisha Hill scored 17 for the Saints (9-16, 3-14).

Limestone    15   8    15   9    — 47

Catawba       10   27   19   24   — 80

CATAWBA — Thorne 31, Baker 12, Downs 8, Ingram 8, Porter 6, Spry 5, Foskey 4, Helpman 3, McIntosh 2, Dixon-Booker 1.