The fifth-ranked Xavier Saints turned up the defense, demonstrated an outstanding passing attack and defeated Dubuque Hempstead, 55-29, in a Mississippi Valley Conference girls basketball game Tuesday night at Xavier.

The Saints led 6-2 two minutes into the game and never looked back. Coach Tom Lilly looked like a prophet with his pre-game predictions and expectations as he entered the final week of the regular season.

Lilly said he wanted “to get better as a team, as we are running out of time to get better.”

Lilly also wanted “to improve the passing game, use solid ball fakes, and set screens and use screens effectively,”  he said.

Mission accomplished.

The Saints (15-5, 10-5) threaded the needle with effective passing and got solid scoring from Katlyn Andersen with 17 points and Kayla Armstrong with 13 points. “It is one of our goals to have three kids in double digits if we can do it,” Lilly said.

Perhaps that was the only goal that didn’t come through during this 26-point conference victory. Emily Walvoord scored six of her seven points in the first half when Xavier built a 36-12 advantage.

Brittani Graves paced Hempstead (6-13, 3-12) with 11 points.

Ten players scored for Xavier. “I want this team to play with confidence as we enter the postseason,” Lilly remarked.

Xavier hosts Prairie on Friday.

HEMPSTEAD (29): Stephanie Tauke 1 0-0 2, Kaitlin Lattner 0 0-0 0, Megan Doty 0 0-0 0, Hailey Koeperich 0 0-0 0, Stephanie Cox 1 0-0 3, Ashley Dolan 3 0-1 6, Paige Yager 1 1-1 3, Abbey Ahlrichs 1 0-0 2, Brittani Graves 4 2-5 11, Hope Koeperich 1 0-2 2. Totals 12 3-9 29.

XAVIER (55): Katelyn Winker 0 2-2 2, Kayla Armstrong 6 1-4 13, Annie Dale 0 2-2 2, Hayley Deutmeyer 0 2-2 2, Sarah Dickes 0 0-0 0, Nicole Noonan 0 0-0 0, Hannah Chute 0 0-0 0, Maddie Bertsch 1 0-0 2, Katlyn Andersen 5  4-6 17, Morgan Breitbach 0 2-2 2, Lizzy Bailey 0 0-0 0, Allison Chorzempa 0 0-0 0, Ashley Stulken 1 2-2 4, Emily Walvoord 3 1-2 7, Lisa Boomgarden 0 0-0 0, Alex Bartz 1 2-2 4. Totals 17 18-24 55.

Halftime - Xavier 36, Hempstead 12. 3-point goals - Hempstead 2 (Cox 1, Graves 1), Xavier 3 (Andersen 3).