After a back-and-forth first half during Thursday night’s Three Rivers East home matchup against Princeton, Newman’s defense locked in.

The Comets took advantage of turnovers and open shots, holding the Tigers to just 13 points in the second half en route to a 56-41 win.

Newman (15-5, 5-0) took control of the conference lead as Princeton (15-2, 3-2) is continuing to adjust to the absence of Camryn Driscoll, who is out with a knee injury.

After leading just 31-28 at halftime, Newman picked up the energy and held Princeton to just four 3-pointers and a free throw after the break. Newman also is still without a starter in Brooklyn Smith.

Gisselle Martin led Newman with 17 points, five steals and five assists.

“We just had to talk more on defense, because in the first half, we weren’t really talking that much,” Martin said. “We came out talking really well. Elaina [Allen] led us with talking. She does a really good job of keeping our momentum on defense.”

Allen added 11 points for Newman while Paizlee Williams and Anna Propheter each added eight. Lucy Oetting had seven points and 10 rebounds.

“We haven’t been able to beat them for a while,” Martin said. “Beating them today feels really good.”

Allen said communication and consistency was big in the second half.

“Just moving the ball around and talking on defense was really what pulled us through there,” she said. “We saw how it was in the first half and it wasn’t working. We knew we had to bring that if we wanted to pull this game through.”

The Comets’ timely triples also were big in the win as Newman hit nine 3-pointers.

“I think that’s what helped us seal it there,” Allen said. “It was good that we just kept moving the ball around and getting those shots.”

Payton Brandt led Princeton with 14 points while Kiyrra Morris and Keighley Davis each scored nine for the Tigers.

Driscoll was injured a week ago against Erie-Prophetstown. Princeton coach Tiffany Gonigam said they are still awaiting news on the knee injury. She was on the bench with her leg in a brace during the game.

“She did a lot for us in terms of handling the ball and scoring, being an outside threat and leadership too,” Gonigam said. “It’s just everybody being the best version of themselves to help fill that void.”

Gonigam said the team missed some assignments defensively in the second half and turnovers turned into Newman baskets.

“And then [we] just fouled when we shouldn’t have,” she said. “We were happy with the looks we were getting, just gotta put the ball in the basket more consistently.”

Gonigam said remaining positive is key for the team as it deals with some adversity.

“We’ve still got a lot of season left,” she said. “We’re playing three, four games a week at times here until we get to February. We don’t have time to feel sorry for ourselves. We played a good game against team. We have a lot to look forward to.”

Newman coach Herb Martin said his team’s defense made the difference in the second half.

“The first half, I think we kind of just traded baskets and then just did down-and-backs is what I call it,” he said. “I always tell the girls, defense wins championships, and they got out in the second half and kind of locked in and played some defense.”

Newman went to a zone defense as fouls piled up for both teams. Each team was whistled for 16 fouls.

Martin said it is hard to guard when fouls are called in a variety of ways.

“Especially with Princeton, they’ve got a bunch of girls that are really tall and really long,” he said. “It makes it even harder to defend those girls when we are just so small. But we are quick and we are strong. We kind of figured it out and got in done in the second half.”