Sophia Towne passed up on an uncontested layup early in Monday’s game, prompting some strong prodding from Nazareth coach Eddie Stritzel.

She didn’t need reminding again.

Towne, Nazareth’s junior point guard, has a tendency to defer to her senior teammate, BYU recruit Stella Sakalas.

So a switch seemed to flip Monday when Sakalas went down with an apparent ankle injury late in the first half, and didn’t return.

“I think we all realized that we needed to step up in our scoring,” Towne said, “and be aggressive.”

Towne took the lead, scoring all but one of her baskets after Sakalas’ injury to help Nazareth extend its lead on Bolingbrook.

And then she had a 3-pointer and steal to help turn away Bolingbrook’s late rally in Nazareth’s 52-39 nonconference win in La Grange Park.

Towne scored 16 points, Sakalas 13, Lyla Shelton eight and Mia Gage seven for Nazareth (15-3). Heaven Harris, Skylar Wakefield and Kennedy Williams each scored nine for Bolingbrook (11-3).

Towne and Shelton scored all 15 of Nazareth’s points in the third quarter to build a 46-28 lead.

“Sophia knew with Stella out she had to step up her game, and then Shelton stepped up and hit some big shots,” Stritzel said. “It shows we can hold our own without Stella against a quality opponent.”

Sakalas scored 11 of her 13 points in the first quarter. But she seemed to land awkwardly as she was fouled on a shot near the basket with 2:51 left in the first half and Nazareth ahead 20-15.

Sakalas walked off the court on her own power, favoring one leg, and did not return.

“I think it’s just a sprain,” Stritzel said. “She was going to try to go, she said it was sore, so we decided to keep her out. I said this could be good for us down the road. We’re hoping to have her back soon.”

With Sakalas out, Towne seemed to immediately attack, taking advantage of a two-man game with Sam Austin.

“We put Sam with Sophia. A big kid has trouble guarding Sophia when they switch. We thought we’d get the right matchup,” Stritzel said. “We wore it out as best as we could.”

Shelton, after missing all four of her first half shot attempts, came alive with eight points and two 3-pointers in the third quarter.

“Sophia and I talked about it together as a team. We knew Stella wasn’t coming back and we had to band together,” Shelton said. “I knew the team needed points. I had to get the bad first half out of my head.”

Bolingbrook, trailing by the 18-point margin after three quarters, made it a game in the fourth.

The Raiders started hitting the offensive glass hard, forced five turnovers and started the fourth on an 11-0 run. Harris, who scored six of her nine points in the fourth quarter, scored to close Bolingbrook within 46-39 with 2:52 left.

“We worked the offense, we hustled harder and we were more disciplined in what we were doing,” Bolingbrook coach Chris Smith said.

Too little, too late against an opponent like Nazareth.

“When we come out here playing as individuals, we struggle,” Smith said. “My starting backcourt had nine turnovers; we had 15 as a team. Nine turnovers, can’t happen. That works against certain schools. It doesn’t work against a team like Nazareth. We have to value possessions.”

Towne helped turn the tide back to Nazareth in the last two minutes.

She bided her time on a possession out of a timeout, got loose on the right wing and sank a 3-pointer to get the margin back to 10.

“I think that the competitiveness got to me,” Towne said. “It wasn’t the cleanest last few minutes, but we pulled it off.”

And then at the other end Towne dove for a loose ball to force a tie-up, and stole a pass.

None of it surprised Stritzel.

“I’m biased – I feel like she never gets her due," Stritzel said. “She is good, she turned the ball over a couple times early but she handled their pressure. She doesn’t stop. She knew I had to play her the whole game.”