If the Pitt-Bradford women’s first game of 2017 is any indication, there could be big things in store for the Lady Panthers.

UPB won its fourth consecutive game in emphatic fashion, trouncing the Penn State-Altoona Lions (2-7, 2-3) 97-58 on Wednesday night in the first game of a women’s-men’s doubleheader.

All 11 Panthers who dressed found the scoreboard, with five different players finishing in double figures. Leading the way was Brittany Watts, who finished with a game-high 19 points as well as 10 rebounds.

“We’ve been kind of holding back, not wanting to tire our girls out,” UPB coach Sean Brown said. “But today we wanted to put it all together and see what it looked like. Our team’s healthy now, we’ve got healthy bodies and it worked pretty well tonight.”

The Panthers started the game on an absolute tear, jumping out to a 15-1 lead within the first four minutes. Watts was the key component of this offensive explosion, as she was responsible for 11 of the Panthers first 17 points overall.

A three-pointer by Allison Guengerich (14 points) with 1:10 left in the first period put the Panthers up 31-9. They would end the first frame with a 35-9 lead. UPB shot 56.5 percent from the field and went a scorching 5 for 6 from long distance. All told, eight different players found the score sheet in the first quarter alone.

On the opposite end, the Lions were sloppy offensively to start, going just 3 for 15 in the first quarter from the field, including missing all seven attempted three-pointers. They were continually harassed by the Panthers’ high-pressure defense, turning the ball over six times in the first quarter.

PSA was also continually losing battles on the defensive boards, giving up seven first-quarter offensive rebounds.

The Panthers’ offense slowed down a bit in the second quarter, but they had given themselves such a comfortable margin that it hardly mattered. A layup by Shirleah Ragin (five points) midway through the second period put the Panthers up by 30 at 45-15.

What was perhaps most surprising about UPB’s offensive dominance was that they were able to do it without early contributions from leading scorer Ali Rinfrette. While the junior did finish with 10 points on the night, she didn’t make her first basket until late in the first half. Coach Brown was pleased to see such a balanced offensive effort from his team.

“We’ve been focusing on getting all the girls involved,” he said. “More than anything working inside-out. That’s the strategy we’ve been going to our last four or five games. Now that we have the skill and the size inside, we’ve been trying to take advantage of our inside game, and our girls feed off of that.”

That dominance inside was evident throughout this contest, as the Panthers outrebounded the Lions 59-39 overall.

PSA was handicapped by a very short bench with just two substitutes, something UPB’s coach was well aware of coming into the game.

“We go into every single game with a game plan specifically made for the opponent, and that was one of the things that we saw on film,” Brown said. “They didn’t want to go more than seven deep. They were struggling with their depth and we took advantage of it.”

The Panthers went into the half with a 52-18 lead, taking much of the drama out of the second portion of the game.

In addition to all of the different contributors on the offensive end for UPB, the Panthers also got an all-around effort on the boards, as every player recorded at least one rebound. Coach Brown noted how well his players have adapted to playing an inside-focused game.

“We went from being a jump-shooting team to being an inside-focused team,” he said.

UPB got off to a (relatively) slow start in the third period, while the Lions were finally able to hit some shots of their own. However, it was far too little, far too late.

After taking a 72-36 lead into the final frame, the Panthers were able to empty their bench and get everyone involved, while the Lions’ short bench denied them the use of fresh legs.

In addition to the strong efforts from Watts, Rinfrette, and Guengerich, Kaserra Owens added 10 points and four steals, while Jennifer Isenberg finished with 10 points and four rebounds.

Kaley Strittmatter (14 points), Paige Burk (13), and Megan Wheeler (12) were the leading scorers for Penn State-Altoona.

The Lady Panthers (6-5, 4-1) will try to stretch their winning streak to five when they host Penn State-Behrend on Saturday at 1 p.m.