Northwestern's girls basketball team got off to just the kind of start it hoped for this season.

The Lady Tigers opened the season with nonleague wins over Stroudsburg and Pleasant Valley last weekend. They made it three straight on Tuesday with a win in their Colonial League opener at Pen Argyl, 48-24 for their second straight win on the road.

"I'm excited about getting this win on the road," said senior guard Sara Jones after scoring 26 points at Pleasant Valley Saturday. "Last year I think we were 4-8 on the road."

The Tigers played stifling defense in the first half of all three games. Friday night they outscored Stroudsburg 24-2 in the first quarter and 42-13 in the first half. Saturday they forced 20 Pleasant Valley turnovers in the first half.

"We just want to pressure the ball," said Jones. "I tell the girls we want to make [the other team] feel so uncomfortable with the ball that they want to turn it over."

Jones quietly had a game-high 26 points against Pleasant Valley, going 10 for 11 from the foul line and making 8 of 14 field goal attempts. She went 2 for 6 in the first quarter and 6 for 8 the rest of the way.

"She's a fantastic player," said sophomore guard Sarah Segan. "She works well with her teammates and points come to her. She's a great leader, great player and great teammate."

Northwestern's defense led to a 31-20 halftime lead against Pleasant Valley. When the Bears made a run in the fourth quarter, Jones and Segan sealed the win at the foul line, combining to go 10 for 10 in the fourth.

The team works on free throws at every practice and has incentive to be good at them.

"If you miss you're running, so we've got to make them," Segan said. "Free throws are so important."

The team also runs sprints before practicing foul shots so the players can get used to shooting while winded and tired.

"We know it's a big part of the game," said Jones. "If we don't hit those foul shots, they're right back in the game."

The Bears cut Northwestern's lead to six points, 43-37 with 4:26 left in the game. The Tigers responded with a 10-0 run over three minutes, with eight of the points coming at the foul line.

Northwestern had built its lead up to 15 twice in the third quarter. The first time was on a Trista Cunningham (8 points, 10 rebounds) basket early in the period. The last time came on a pair of Jones free throws that made it 38-23 with 3:23 left in the third quarter.

A three-point play by Mackenzie Dorney started a 6-0 Pleasant Valley run and the teams went into the fourth quarter at 41-31.

The Tigers, which return five players with experience as varsity starters, expect contend for this year's Colonial League title and maybe more. They take on Northern Lehigh Thursday, Palmerton next Tuesday and have a showdown with another league contender, Bangor, next week before breaking for the holidays.

Northwestern also won the JV game at Pleasant Valley, 37-31 as Kylee Bennett scored a team-high nine points.