Plymouth Christian Academy's sizzling girls basketball team will take a 4-0 record into an extended holiday break following Tuesday's lopsided 45-16 victory over host Lutheran Westland.

  The match-up was the Michigan Independent Athletic Conference opener for both schools.

  "We played really well early and made a lot of shots, but the third quarter got kind of ugly for us," said PCA head coach Carol Gerulis. "We'll need to work on our free-throw shooting over the break, too."

  The Eagles' smothering defense came to the rescue on a night when the ball wasn't going in the cylinder on a regular basis. PCA hit just 17 of 57 field goals and 5 of 17 free throws, but they registered 25 steals on the other end of the court.

  "We pressed them in the second quarter and created a lot of turnovers," said Gerulis, whose team led 12-4 after one quarter and 28-10 at the break.

  PCA managed just six third-quarter points before outscoring its hosts 11-2 over the final eight minutes.

  Senior point guard Bri Harris led the winners with 12 points, five assists and four steals. Jenna Abraham (eight points, four steals) and Jenny Malcolm (seven points, six rebounds) also played well for the Eagles.

  A pair of Warriors -- Amanda Terranello and Aldrine Fike -- scored six points.

  PCA is idle until Jan. 10 when it takes on Bloomfield Hills Roeper.

  Ed Wright can be reached at (734) 453-1980 or info@plymouthcantonsports.com.