DAPHNE, Alabama — The Lady Admirals built a 27-0 lead before Excel's visiting Lady Panthers scored in the second period as Bayside Academy went on to a dominating 44-7, 3A Area 1 win.

Danielle diPretoro scored 13 points and had three steals for Bayside, who was without a resting Gabby Deshotel. Morgan Dulaney nearly collected a triple double with 12 points, 11 rebounds and seven steals. Virginia Pittman added eight to the score and had six steals, Caroline Beebe had four points, Tristan Hazebrook and Harper Morrison had three each and Jhalen Caffey had one. Page MacDonald had five for Excel.

The Lady Admirals improved to 2-0 in area play and 3-4 overall. Two of 3A Bayside's losses were to 6A teams and the other to a 5A school.

Bayside head coach Brittany Davidson said playing with Deshotel resting a sore ankle, gave her a chance to evaluate some younger players and give everyone more experience.

"I was very pleased with the way we started the game and played the first half. We played hard on the defensive end of the floor by creating turnovers and limiting them to one shot on their offensive possessions. We set the tone from the tip and really did not look back," she said of the early offensive burst. "We played with intensity and were aggressive in our press. On the offensive end we looked to penetrate hard to the basket and draw the foul and get to the foul line. We played really hard and played together. Our bench came in and gave us some quality minutes."

Bayside travels to Cottage Hill Friday and St. Paul's Saturday.