Ramsey Hopp added 16 points, with Betsy Joyce adding 15 and Brooklyn Lewis 13 as the Eagles improved to 13-7 overall and 9-3 in conference play.

Rachel Johnson led Belle Plaine (7-14, 3-9) with 19 points.

“We played a fabulous first half,” New Ulm head coach Julie Rogers said about her team’s 56-point first half. “We shot the ball well (8 of 12 from beyond the arc), we passed well and our defense did what it needed to do. And we shared the scoring in the first half.”

The Eagles, who travel to Worthington Friday for a Big South Conference clash, realistically ended the game nine minutes into the game when they took a 23-9 lead.

Staff photo by Travis Rosenau New Ulm’s Mckenna Hulke (21) defends Belle Plaine’s Rachel Johnson (23) during the first half of a Big South Conference girls basketball game at New Ulm High School on Tuesday night.

Three 3s from Hopp spearheaded the charge that grew to 31-12 after a 3 from Joyce.

“Our kids reacted to where the openings were so they got there and got their shots off,” Rogers said. “We pressured the ball and that has been our strength all season — getting the turnover and then converting on them.”

New Ulm forced 14 Tigers turnovers in the first half as they took a 56-29 lead at halftime.

New Ulm scored 39 points in the second half with 22 of those points coming from Backer, who buried five 3s in that second half.

“I just got confident in my shot,” Backer said about her second-half performance. “I saw it go in even before it left my hand, but my teammates were making them, so that kind of opened up the floor for me too.”

A 3 from Morgan Hulke and Backer’s fifth 3 of the second half had New Ulm leading 91-57.

“I think that we are playing our best basketball right now,” Backer said. “As a team we struggled in the beginning of the season, but everyone is consistently starting to hit their shots every game and the last few games everyone has had a quality game.”

Rogers added that putting up 95 points on the board is a lot.

“We are playing pretty well — you can’t scoff at the [95] points.”