HONOLULU, Hawaii – Facing the No. 2 team in the nation, College of Saint Mary played a highly competitive first half, trailing Indiana Wesleyan just 37-23 at the intermission.

However, the Wildcats pulled away in the second half for a 91-48 victory Thursday on the first day of the Hoops in Hawaii Classic at the Shark Tank.

"We had a great first half,'' CSM Coach Natalie Miller said. "Our big focus for the game was composure, because they press and pressure, and just all around are super aggressive. We had a couple of really hard turnovers in the third quarter. We didn't rebound well in the third quarter, and the third quarter is really what crushed us.''

Trailing 29-7 after one quarter, the Flames (1-11) turned in one of their best quarters of the season, outscoring the Wildcats 16-8. Junior Haley Debuse led CSM in that stanza, scoring 10 of her team-high 20 points. Madelyn Gaughen added three points in the period and Meghan Keil added a 3-pointer, as the Flames pulled within 14 at the half.

However, CSM committed 20 of its 36 turnovers in the second half, as Indiana Wesleyan pulled away to improve to 13-0. The Wildcats scored 43 points off those turnovers.

"All of the ladies handling the press handled it well, again, until that third quarter,'' Miller said. "We just came out a little flustered.''

Debuse made 8 of her 9 shots from the field and 3 of 4 from the line to go with four rebounds. Gaughen added 11 points for CSM, while Makenna Earnest pitched in seven points in eight minutes, hitting 7-of-8 at the free-throw line.

CSM will conclude play in Hawaii on Friday at 5:15 CST against Benedictine (Kan.) College, which dropped to 9-2 on the season with a 59-46 loss to Hastings College on Thursday.

"Benedictine has two pretty good post players and some shooters, so we're going to be really focused on guarding your person,'' Miller said.