The Nansemond-Suffolk Academy girls’ basketball team hosted a short-handed squad from Norfolk Academy on Tuesday night and won easily, 49-21.

“We were a little slow out of the gate,” NSA head coach Kim Aston said. “They were down three starters tonight. Their post player tore her (anterior cruciate ligament), and two other girls had the flu.”

As a result, what might have been a tight conference game ended up being a rout. After taking an 8-5 first-quarter lead, the Lady Saints used a 15-2 second quarter to establish some distance that would last the rest of the game.

“Towards the end of the third quarter, we started hitting a lot of outside shots against their zone,” Aston said.

Though Aston said junior guard Jessica Pieroni struggled shooting from the perimeter, she still led her team with 28 points.

“I thought Macy (Mears) played well,” Aston said. “I thought Kaylor (Nash) rebounded pretty well.”

Mears connected three times from beyond the arc to finish with nine points, while Nash collected nine boards to go with three steals. Freshman point guard Harper Birdsong had only four points, but produced seven rebounds, four assists, three blocks and two steals.

Nansemond-Suffolk (15-5, 4-1) plays tonight at home on Senior Night against Norfolk Collegiate.