The Washington Demons left no doubt that they’d leave their losing streak behind in West Liberty, racing by the Comets for a 51-31 win.

On Monday, it just seemed like everything would go right for the Demons. A quick start on offense, combined with Washington’s signature strong defense, gave the Demons a 13-3 lead after the first. A barrage of three-pointers from Oaklee Sobaski, Reagan Miller, and Leighton Messinger would help to widen the gap in the second quarter. At the half, Washington led 29-11.

Unfortunately, Washington couldn’t seem to get the lead past the 20-point line. Fortunately, Washington wouldn’t let West Liberty back in the game, with the Comets’ leading scorer Kylee Daufeldt kept largely quiet for most of the game. Daufeldt would still get her buckets, but Washington kept finding ways, from multiple scorers, to keep West Liberty from making any kind of threat. The Demons led 38-20 heading into the fourth, and then cruised to a 51-31 win.

Adalyn Long finished with 12 to lead the Demons, but Vivienne Kroll’s 9, and Messinger, Sobaski, and Reagan Miller’s 6 each all contributed to the cause. Washington head coach Colin Mulford says it was a total team effort to get back in the win column, “Anytime you lose two games in a row, you might have a little bit of doubts in your mind, whether its just on the team or the person, but having a game like this where everyone contributed really well and did their job, whether it was rebounding, defense, shooting, passing, everyone did their job and did their part.”

With the win, Washington improves to 7-4 overall, and surpasses last season’s 6-win team, with plenty of games left to play. They’ve got a tough test ahead, however, in conference-leading Keokuk. Last time the Demons met the Chiefs, Washington started strong, but ran out of steam in an eventual 49-41 defeat.

Friday’s game will be played as part of a doubleheader with the Washington boys, with pregame for the girls at 5:30 p.m. followed by the tip-off at 6.