St. Ambrose rode a fast start to a conference-opening 73-53 win over Trinity Christian Wednesday night inside Lee Lohman Arena.

The Bees held the Trolls without a point for more than 5 1/2 minutes to open the game. And while TCC struggled offensively, SAU got contributions across the board. No more so than in those opening minutes as five different Bees scored to build an early 10-0 lead.

The quick start propelled St. Ambrose (2-1, 1-0 CCAC) to an 18-5 lead after one quarter.

Trinity Christian (1-4, 0-1 CCAC) closed to within five points late in the second quarter but Madi Epperson found Abby Lownik for a layup and then Gabrielle Koelker scored five straight points on a 3-pointer and two free throws as St. Ambrose closed the half on a 7-0 run for a 29-17 lead at the break.

The Trolls stayed within striking distance in the third until the Bees put together a decisive 10-0 run. Koelker and Madeline Prestegaard each scored four points during the spurt that pushed the lead to 49-29.

TCC got no closer than 14 points the rest of the way.

Madeline Prestegaard finished with a team-best 13 points and her sister Jaynee Prestegaard added 10. They were the only Bees in double figures, but four others each had at least eight points with Koelker, Charlotte Flynn and Maddy Cash scoring nine apiece and Kylie Wroblewski dropping in eight.

Wroblewski and the Prestegaards also helped St. Ambrose to a dominating 52-33 advantage on the boards. Wroblewski grabbed a game-high 11 rebounds, while Madeline (8 rebounds) and Jaynee (7) combined for 15 more.

SAU harrassed TCC into 18-of-63 shooting (28.6 percent).

Jamie Martens contributed six points in the win.

The Bees will visit Mount Mercy Saturday afternoon.