WINDSOR – This could be called a ‘holiday roll’, and for Bertie’s girls basketball team it was just as sweet.

It’ll be 2010 before the girls play on their home gym floor again, but they gave their fans – and their opponents – something to think about for this upcoming decade.

This team could be pretty formidable come the new year.

The Lady Falcons closed out the home portion of the year with a 70-31 win Tuesday night over Northeastern Coastal Conference foe, Pasquotank. Limiting the Lady Panthers to less than 25 percent shooting from the floor while downing an opponent by better than 30 points for the third straight time and fourth time in their last five games.

Monica Outlaw led a trio of Lady Falcons in double figures with a season-high 18 points while Eboni Bond had 15 points. Ayanna Wilson added 10 while Bridgers had nine and a team-high 10 rebounds. Raven Roundtree led Pasquotank’s scoring with six.

With the game well in hand in the fourth quarter coach Alice Lyons reinserted her starting lineup with less than two minutes to play to the surprise of some.

“There was something they hadn’t run exactly right the first time I tried it,” explained Lyons after the game, “and I wanted to see if they could get it right.

“We’ve got to get ready now,” she continued, “for the next level.”

Bertie raced out to a 12-2 lead to open the game before Pasquotank called a timeout to regroup. Outlaw got the team’s first six points on a three-point play in the low post followed by a rainbow jump shot from just beyond the three-point arc.

After a Pasquotank jump shot, field goals followed by Montreshia Perry, Wilson and Bond to stake the home team to the 10-point lead.

Perry closed out the quarter with two more field goals to stake Bertie to an 18-5 lead after the first eight minutes of play.

In the second quarter, the Lady Falcons pressure defense forced Pasquotank turnovers and strong rebounding gave them total command of the game. Wilson got a short jump shot followed by a steal and a layup as part of a 7-0 run and a 26-5 Bertie lead. Pasquotank made a short run of their own to close the margin to 26-14 at the halftime break thanks to 4-of-5 free throw shooting.

The Bertie barrage continued in the third quarter as Bridgers got a steal and lay-up to open the second-half scoring and she could’ve had six in a row, but missed a free throw after being fouled on a three-point play.

The pressure defense of the Lady Falcons was relentless as Wilson came up with three quick steals that Bertie easily converted into six points and after Perry’s jump shot with three and a half minutes gone in the quarter the lead was upped to 41-21.

Bond got back-to-back steals and layups and the shell-shocked Lady Panthers could muster just a pair of field goals and three free throws for the entire eight minutes and found themselves down, 51-22 with one more quarter to play.

Bertie opened the final frame with Outlaw’s 16th point of the night before Lyons began wholesale substituting with five minutes to go. The reserves picked up where the starters left off, particularly back-up point guard Eboni Perry with her floor leadership as well as her offense as she finished the night with a seven-point scoring effort.

Pasquotank’s last gasp was a 10-point run during a late quarter span that might have prompted Lyons to reinsert the starters. The regular starting-five ran a couple of half-court sets, but Pasquotank made a last-ditch effort to hold off too much embarrassment before the horn sounded and Bertie had a 39-point win and a 2-0 lead in the conference with their sixth win of the season.

“We’ve got two tournaments coming up beginning next week,” said Lyons. “Things like this helps make sure we’re ready.”