Consol (21-9, 7-2) scored the game's first 16 points in just four minutes. Starks and senior Jamyra McIntosh got things going with steals and layups. Senior guard Alexia Oaks added a 3-pointer off another steal, forcing a Willis timeout.

The Lady Tigers, though, were just warming up as they raced to a 25-6 lead after one quarter, scoring 19 points off eight Willis turnovers. Things continued in the second quarter as Consol extended the lead to 43-16, despite backing off its full-court pressure.

"I thought we had just a terrific start to this ballgame," Heintz said. "A.J. and Alexis both came out firing."

The Lady Tigers had been working on improving their shooting after hitting 25 percent in back-to-back losses to College Station and Rudder two weeks ago that dropped them two games behind league-leading Rudder. Consol shot better last week in victories over Livingston and Huntsville, and against Willis (9-13, 2-7) the Lady Tigers hit 10 of 15 field goals in the first quarter, including 4 of 5 beyond the arc.

Thursday's practice against the freshman boys team seemed to do the trick for the Lady Tigers, who are alone in second place after Rudder (24-4, 9-0) beat College Station (18-10, 6-3).

"I was just pleased with their focus," Heintz said.

Consol stretched its lead to 35-8 before the Lady Tigers committed their first foul with 3 minutes, 21 seconds left in the first half.

"At Livingston we had only three total fouls," Heintz said of Consol's 66-42 victory Tuesday. "I don't know what we're doing, but we're going to try to keep doing it."

That also goes for the 5-foot-10 Starks, who was certainly zoned in. She scored 13 of her game-high 29 points in the first quarter, hitting 5 of 8 shots, three of them 3-pointers. Starks outscored the Lady Wildkats until midway through the third quarter. She finished her scoring with a layup to end the third quarter, giving the Lady Tigers a 63-30 lead.

Starks ended up hitting 11 of 17 field goals and 4 of 6 free throws with six rebounds. She got solid support from McIntosh and Oaks. McIntosh had 16 points, hitting 8 of 14 field goals with five rebounds. The 5-4 Oaks added 15 points in an all-around effort.

"I thought Jamyra McIntosh had really great minutes, slicing to the basket," Heintz said. "I thought McKenzie Dimery ... had some good boards."

The early big lead allowed Consol, which is trying to rebuild and reload after reaching the regional finals last season, to play its bench for long stretches.

"Our other kids contributed in ways that don't always show up on the stat sheets," Heintz said. "And as you go further down the road, that's going to be important."

Consol was outrebounded by seven in the first half, in large part because Willis missed so many shots, but the Lady Tigers reversed that in the second half.

"Our goal is always to outrebound the other team, even though we are usually the smaller team," Heintz said.

Willis, which dropped a 55-46 decision the last time the two met, played much better in the second half in part by forcing Consol into 13 turnovers. Willis' Kindallyn Reece and Deseanna Murphy combined for 18 points in the second half as each ended with 14 for the game.

"In the second half, we did a good job of pressuring them, causing turnovers," Willis coach Alana Lara said. "We've just got to be better [early]. We had 20 turnovers in the first half, so you're not going to win a lot of basketball games with that."

Consol backed off its full-court pressure after the first quarter as the Lady Tigers worked on their zone defense. Offensively, Consol didn't look for the fast break as much in the second half, working on its half-court offense against Willis' zone.

Starks played sparingly in the last quarter and didn't shoot in the period until the final 30 seconds when she tried to break the 30-point barrier; she missed a contested layup. The teams combined for only four fouls in the second half with Willis never going to the free-throw line in the game.

A&M Consolidated 71, Willis 45

(numbers indicate field goals made-attempted, free throws made-attempted, rebounds, fouls, points)

CONSOL (21-9, 7-2) --

WILLIS (9-13, 2-7) -

Willis 6 10 14 15 -- 45

Consol 25 18 20 8 -- 71

Turnovers -- Consol 19 for 22 Willis points; Willis 23 for 35 Consol points.

3-pointers -- Willis 1-6 (Wrence 1-1, McDougall 0-1, Reece 0-1, Murphy 0-3); Consol 5-10 (Starks 3-3, Oaks 2-7)