WARSAW – Warsaw’s hot start and equally hot finish helped the Lady Tigers to a 56-41 victory over Mishawaka in the morning game of the TCU Lady Tiger Tournament.

Madi Graham’s tremendous first quarter, scoring 11 points on a trio of bombs, had Warsaw off and running at 15-4 after the first quarter. Graham would finish with a game-high 18 points in all, hitting two more three-pointers in the second half to finish 5-7 from deep. Graham’s overall solid game had the forward rack up four steals, three assists, two rebounds and shoot 67 percent (6-9) from the floor in the game.

“She doesn’t have to worry about handling the basketball, she can just relax and play,” said Warsaw head coach Michelle Harter of Graham’s role on the floor. “We took a little bit off of her plate. She is letting somebody else run the offense. She is just getting her feet set and ready to shoot and looking to attack. I think that’s really helped her. She’s really embraced this new role and coming in and doing an excellent job for us.”

Warsaw would take a 22-6 lead in the second quarter and eventually settle on a 30-12 lead in the third quarter, its largest lead of the day. In what looked like a runaway eventually got within seven points late in the third.

Mishawaka went on a 15-6 run, fueled by a handful of Warsaw turnovers. After Madison Kreil pulled down an offensive board and putback for two, a Warsaw turnover allowed Cameron Schultheis to can a three, pulling Mishawaka all the way back to 34-27.

Kacy Bragg responded for Warsaw with a hoop and the harm, putting the Lady Tigers back up 10, which is the closest the game would get the rest of the way.

Graham opened the fourth quarter with a three, then Dayton Groninger scored baskets on Warsaw’s next two possessions to put the Lady Tigers back up 16. Groninger finished her game with another full plate of 17 points, six rebounds, three assists and three steals. Bragg finished with seven points and four boards, but also one nose as a collision between her and teammate Kaylee Patton left Patton flat on the floor with a broken nose in the third quarter. Patton, who had four points, three assists and valuable minutes off the bench, did not return and her availability for tonight’s game is questionable.

“It’s broken so we’ll have to see what goes on from here on out,” Harter said of her freshman. “She got an elbow on the nose. As soon as she sat up we could see it was not right. She’s in good spirits, though. For some reason, these kids like getting black eyes and those kinds of things. They wear that as a badge of honor, I don’t know. She’s a tough kid. We’ll see what happens later today.”

Schultheis led the Cavemen with 14 points, but was on the short end of six turnovers, part of a 27-giveaway plight by Mishawaka in the game. Gretta Meixel added 10 points, four rebounds and three steals for Mishawaka.

The Cavemen (5-9) will face Perry Meridian (6-7) in this evening’s consolation game at 6 p.m. Warsaw (13-1) will take on Chesterton (9-4), which beat Perry 51-49 on two Cheslea Jackson free throws with one second left in Tuesday morning’s second game. Game two will start at approximately 7:45 p.m. Warsaw is playing in its third TCU title game in the past four seasons, seeking its 14th title in the 37th playing of the tournament.