She just had to take care of a little business on Friday night first.

The Crown Point senior guard sparked a 13-2 first-quarter run, leading the Times No. 2 Bulldogs past No. 4 Portage 53-33 in the Duneland Athletic Conference opener for both schools.

"That's going to be a lot of fun," said Webster of today's 6 p.m. matchup in the Times Region Roundball Rumble. "We just couldn't think about Wawasee yet. This was our first DAC game and that was more important."

Webster also knew it was important to get off to a good start against the Indians (3-3, 0-1). Webster made sure that happened, erasing a 7-4 deficit with seven points and a pair of assists to senior center Carissa Triplett over the last 5:35 of the first quarter.

"That was awesome," Webster said of the run. "We haven't been ourselves lately. We just needed to get out of the funk we were in. I just had to step it up.

"We just came out pressuring them and stepping up our defense."

Portage coach Renee Turpa liked the tempo of the game, but she couldn't get her players to get in sync.

"We just didn't seem to be on the same page," said Turpa of her team, which committed 25 turnovers. "This is the first team that could play our up-tempo style. We just couldn't play with that speed."

More importantly, they couldn't hit any of their shots. The Indians were just 12 of 52 from the field, including a paltry 5 of 22 from 3-point range. Portage kept itself out of the game by going scoreless for a 10-plus minute span in the second and third quarters.

"We just couldn't get any shots to go in," Turpa said. "If we shoot 35 or 30 percent, it's a totally different game."

It wasn't.

Webster made sure of that. She had 16 points, five steals and four assists to key the Bulldogs (5-1).

"We go as Alex goes," Crown Point coach Tom May said of his star guard. "She made the big plays to get us going."

Triplett also enjoyed herself with 16 points and eight rebounds.

"We were also able to get the ball to Triplett over the top," May said. "Webster also played under control tonight."

Now Webster can concentrate on her meeting with Zolman.

"This is a great opportunity for us," Webster said. "I'm going to enjoy this."

Jim Hunsley can be reached at jhunsley@howpubs.com or (219) 462-5151, Ext. 356.

PORTAGE (33)

Nicole Tesseneer 3-16 0-0 7, Carly Ristich 1-6 0-0 3, Nicole Dearing 2-8 0-2 6, Caitlin Austgen 4-11 0-0 8, Leigh Cotton 0-2 2-2 2, Nikki McDonald 0-4 0-0 0, Lindsay Abram 2-5 2-3 7, Emily Safstrom 0-0 0-0 0, Amy Samplawski 0-0 0-0 0. Totals -- 12-52 4-7 33.

CROWN POINT (53)

Ashley Plumley 1-3 0-0 2, Cassie Pruzin 1-3 0-0 2, Alex Webster 6-15 4-6 16, Carissa Triplett 8-13 0-0 16, Danielle Brueck 0-0 0-0 0, Amy Zondor 0-1 0-0 0, Blayre Reeves 3-10 0-2 6, Stephanie Swanson 0-2 0-0 0, Allison Isailovich 1-1 0-0 2, Keri Cuculich 0-0 0-0 0, Janel Heneghan 3-5 0-0 6, Kathleen Fredericks 1-1 1-2 3, Jill Wieand 0-2 0-0 0, Lauren Rhodes 0-0 0-0 0. Totals -- 24-56 5-10 53.

SCORING BY QUARTERS

Portage 9 3 8 13 -- 33

Crown Point 19 9 12 13 -- 53

3-point field goals: Dearing 2, Abram 1, Ristich 1, Tesseneer 1 (P). Rebound leaders: Tesseneer 6, Dearing 6 (P); Triplett 8 (CP). Steal leaders: Austgen 3 (P); Pruzin 6 (CP). Assist leaders: Ristich 3 (P); Pruzin 4, Webster 4 (CP). Team fouls: Portage 13, Crown Point 14. Fouled out: None. JV score: Crown Point 40, Portage 16.