Most coaches will say, “It’s not how you start, it’s how you finish.”

On Wednesday afternoon, the Northwestern girls’ basketball team was very successful at the start of its game against Salisbury — and that was more than enough. Despite scoring just 10 second-half points, the Tigers used a blistering opening quarter to cruise to a 60-29 Colonial League victory.

Mobilizing a full-court press that forced 11 Falcon turnovers in the opening eight minutes, Northwestern erupted for 38 points in the first quarter and never looked back.

The Tigers scored seven points in the first 40 seconds of the game on a three-pointer from Emma Freeman and layups off steals by Hannah Gober and Natalie Conner. While Kendra Morgan tallied the first basket for Salisbury on a jump shot, Conner poured in 15 points in the opening quarter as the home team raced out to a 38-14 lead. Conner finished with a game-high 27 points.

Tigers coach Chris Deutsch took off the full-court pressure in the second quarter, but the Falcons still managed only four points, all scored by Izabella Gonzalez. Meanwhile, Natalie Conner and Lillian Bernhard connected from beyond the arc, and Northwestern extended its lead to 50-18 at the intermission.

The second half was played under the mercy rule. Following their blistering start, the Tigers cooled off and scored just 10 points over the final 16 minutes as Deutsch substituted freely.

Salisbury was much more competitive after Gober opened the half with a three-pointer. The Falcons went on a 9-4 run, led by two treys from Roxanna Cardenis.

After the game, Deutsch spoke about how well his team executed the game plan.

“We came out with good energy, which has been a problem for us until the last two games,” Deutsch said. “We caused turnovers off our defensive pressure. We shared the ball and we made shots.”

Despite the low scoring output in the second half, Deutsch saw value in getting his entire bench into the game.

“It’s important for us that every player get some valuable court time,” he explained. “They worked on our half-court sets. Going down the last stretch of the season, we might need a big play from our role players in big games. Today, they got an opportunity to build their confidence for exactly that possibility.”

He added, “We need to keep our players fresh, too, and by substituting we can keep the energy up for entire games.”

Gober also scored in double figures for the Tigers with 11 points. Cardenis led Salisbury with 11 points.

PLAYING TAKEAWAY ... Salisbury committed 25 turnovers, and when the Falcons did get shots off, second-chance opportunities were limited.

AFTERNOON DELIGHT ... Northwestern played a rare weekday afternoon game with a 4:30 p.m. start. The early tipoff proved no problem, as the Tigers went straight from the classroom to the hardwood and set the tone early.

UP NEXT ... Northwestern travels to Palisades on Monday to take on the Pirates, with a 6:45 p.m. start.

SALISBURY

Cardenis 3-2-2-11, Morgan 4-2-3-10, Suleiman 2-0-0-4, Gonzalez 2-0-3-4, Nimeh 0-0-0-0, Kemmerer 0-0-0-0. TOTALS: 11-4-8-29.

NORTHWESTERN

N. Conner 11-0-1-27, H. Gober 4-2-3-11, Freeman 3-1-2-8, Reinhart 2-2-2-6, Bernhard 1-0-0-3, Snyder 1-0-0-3, Lagowy 0-0-0-0, C. Gober 0-0-0-0, Zentz 0-0-0-0, Kahl 0-0-0-0, M. Conner 1-0-0-2, Graczyk 0-0-0-0, Koryn 0-0-0-0. TOTALS: 23-5-8-60.

Salisbury  14 4 9 2 — 29

Northwestern  38 12 7 3 — 60

Three-pointers: Salisbury — Cardenis 3. Northwestern — N. Conner 5, Bernhard 1, Freeman 1, Snyder 1, Gober 1.

Records: Salisbury 5-6; Northwestern 11-3.