Woodbury girls basketball: Royals top Cretin-Derham Hall for first conference win

The Woodbury girls basketball team stopped a five-game losing streak and won its first Suburban East Conference game of the 2011-12 season with a 69-57 win over Cretin-Derham Hall on Friday, Dec. 16, in St. Paul.

Woodbury (2-5; 1-2 SEC) opened up a 33-27 halftime lead then held on for the win over the Raiders (3-3; 1-2 SEC).

Royals junior guard Kristina White led the way in the win, scoring a game-high 24 points. In addition, junior Courtney Schiffler netted 11 points and sophomore Kalley Hakes chipped in eight points.

Through seven games, White leads the team in scoring with a 20.4 points per game average. Junior center Mikaela Hunter is second at 7.7 points per game, followed by Hakes at 6.4 points per game.

Before beating the Raiders, Woodbury had lost its fifth straight game, 69-59 to Mounds View, since winning the season opener at Mahtomedi.

Against the undefeated and ninth-ranked Mustangs (5-0; 3-0) on Tuesday, Dec. 13, at Woodbury High School, the Royals fell behind 34-30 at the half and couldn’t catch up. Mounds View outscored the Royals 35-29 in the second half and left Woodbury with a 10-point win.

White had a team-high 17 points in the game, while senior Kayla Hinton scored 11 points and junior Marissa Olsen and Hunter each chipped in eight points.

Next, Woodbury hosts an invitational tournament beginning on Wednesday, Dec. 21, at Woodbury High School. After the holiday break, the Royals return to conference play against rival East Ridge on Tuesday, Jan. 3.

Woodbury has never lost to East Ridge.

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