After a torrid start to the season, the No. 9 state-ranked Plano West girls basketball team started to stagnate in district.

That culminated with a Jan. 15 loss to Plano Senior.

"Defensive intensity" was lacking in that loss as well as a five-point win over Allen on Jan. 8. But after Friday night's rematch against the Lady Eagles (1-6 in district) in which the Lady Wolves (6-1) collected 36 turnovers on their way to a 63-40 victory, the defensive intensity appears to be back.

"The last three games we've played with a lot of passion, a lot of intensity and done all the little things a really good team needs to do," Patterson said. "When we play like that, we're a pretty tough team to beat."

That was apparent from the outset Friday.

West forced eight turnovers in the first four minutes and the offense backed up that effort with 3-pointers from seniors Devri Owens and Allison Staley, who dropped in 18 and nine points, respectively. Allen's only first-quarter field goal came from sophomore McKenzie Martin as the Lady Eagles found themselves in a 23-9 hole after the first frame.

That pattern continued in the second despite three blocks from Rachel Piles.

The Allen senior, who managed 10 points and 11 rebounds, was one of two bright spots for the Lady Eagles along with junior Ericka May, who had a game-high 19 points as well as six rebounds.

"Because of some injuries and substitution patterns we had to leave [Piles and May] in there a little longer than we wanted to," said Sean Weibling, Allen head coach. "But they both held up and played very well."

The problem for Allen was its turnover to points ratio.

The Lady Eagles trailed there for most of the night with only 15 points on three field goals at halftime compared to 20 turnovers.

"We just couldn't get into our offense," Weibling said, "but a lot of that had to do with the pressure West was putting on us."

The Lady Wolves converted several turnovers into points to establish a 39-15 lead at the break.

"Those turnovers and steals lead to better shots," Patterson said.

After closing the first half on an 8-0 run, West constructed a 10-0 surge in the third quarter paced by junior Tyara Warren-Cox and freshman Natalie Chou. The former amassed eight points and seven rebounds while the latter hit nine in both points and rebounds.

"I thought Natalie had one of her better rebounding games for us," Patterson said. "She was strong offensively and defensively."

West added seven points and six boards from senior Randi Reinhardt as well as six points from sophomore Sydney Skinner in an offensive attack that featured variety from players in the box score as well as how the points were scored.

"We were good from the outside," Patterson said. "But we also attacked the basket, which led to some easy shots and us getting to the line. When you make good drives, it makes the defense work harder."

After falling behind as much as 54-22, Allen chipped away the rest of the game.

"There is no 25-point shot," Weibling said. "So I told the girls to go out there, particularly in the second half, just take things possession-by-possession and I think they did a good job with that."

Allen senior Kaitlyn Packett and sophomore Kayla Bise each registered a 3-pointer while Packett and Martin both grabbed four rebounds in the eventual 63-40 defeat.

Friday was West's third straight victory.

"It's great to win at the beginning of the season," Patterson said. "But you really want to be playing your best in January and February. We went downhill for a bit there, but now I really feel like we're going back up the hill."

West next travels to McKinney at 6 p.m. Tuesday with Allen hosting McKinney Boyd at the same time. The Lady Eagles, losers of five straight district games, trail the Lionettes and Lady Broncos by one game for the final playoff spot.

"The joys of a six-team district, you're always in it," Weibling said. "These are important games coming up, so we've just got to win and the rest will play itself out."

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