HOUSTON – The Celts of the University of St. Thomas built an insurmountable lead in the first quarter Saturday and never looked back as they overwhelmed the visiting Centenary Ladies 104-56.

Buoyed by a large Homecoming crowd at UST's Jerabeck Center, the Celts jumped out to a 44-6 lead after one period of play to all but secure victory after the opening 10 minutes. The 44 points was the most scored by UST in a single quarter this season.

Sheridan Hopkins (Galveston, Texas / Ball) scored a game-high 23 points to lead the Celts (12-4, 7-2 SCAC), while freshman Hayden Morin (Humble, Texas / Atascocita) chipped in 18 points off the UST bench. Morin shot 6-of-10 from the field and made four out of her eight 3-point tries.

Bresha Orange (Longview, Texas / Panola College) scored 14 points for the Celts, followed by 13 points from Aerial Starks (Houston, Texas / A&M Consolidated).

Centenary (1-15) fell to 1-8 in Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference play with the loss.

The Celts sizzled as they built their early lead, making 14 out of their first 16 field goal attempts (87.5 percent). They finished the period shooting 75 percent (15 of 20).

UST continued to build its lead in the second quarter as they took a 67-20 lead into halftime. The Celts led 91-44 after three quarters of play.

Zariah McInnis (Richmond, Texas / Travis) and Ce'Briaya Bell (Rosharon, Texas / Manvel) scored seven points apiece for the Celts.

The Celts return to action Friday when they open a two-game road trip to Colorado at Johnson & Wales. Tipoff is scheduled for 8:30 p.m. CST (7:30 p.m. local).