The Northern Lehigh girls' basketball team took its share of bumps and bruises this season. Up to this point of the year, the Bulldogs had gone winless.

However, the improvement of the team is noted by coaches.Following last night's contest against Pen Argyl, the players, coaches and entire program can take a collective sigh of relief, as Northern Lehigh turned back the Knights in their Colonial League battle, 57-37.Kaitlin Hoffman and Jill Olewine both hit for 21 points in the game to lead the Lady Bulldogs, as they consistently converted fast breaks off turnovers."That's a strong point of our game," Hoffman said. "We like to get out on that break, fill in the lanes and go."The winners came out of the gates and utilized their fast breaks to put some valuable early points on the board."A lot of that early lead came from fast-break points," Northern Lehigh head coach Tony Thomas said. "The opportunity to run the floor and take advantage of (Pen Argyl) not getting back quickly enough, and putting points on the board early definitely made a difference in the game's outcome."Not only does it give us the early confidence in what we're doing out on the floor, but it also kind of makes them second guess their decisions."A 22-10 first frame put the winners in excellent position. Hoffman put in 11 in the first eight minutes, while Olewine followed with eight.In the second session, both teams' offenses hit the skids, as the Lady Green Knights outscored the 'Dawgs 6-4 in the second, and at the break, the hosts went into the locker room with a 10-point swell.The crucial third frame saw Olewine take over, as she put in 11 of her team's 20 to maintain the momentum and eventually secure the victory."It's so nice to get the first win and break the ice so to speak," Thomas said. "We've been working very hard and the kids deserve this. Based on the overall amount of work as a team, putting in night-in and night-out at practices, it's so nice to see all of that time and work in the gym pay off for us."SUCCESS BREEDS SUCCESS ... With the win, the Lady Bulldogs' satisfaction seemed apparent as smiles were strewed across all faces of players, coaches and fans alike. "We definitely hope that we can build off this win, carry our heads high into our next game, and hopefully turn this into a winning season," said Hoffman.WHAT'S NEXT? ... Along with Jim Thorpe and Palmerton, Northern Lehigh travels to Lehighton on Monday and Tuesday night to take part in the Lehighton Girls Basketball Holiday Tournament.IT'S ALL ABOUT POINTS ... Northern Lehigh was led by the tandem of Olewine and Hoffman, as they both scored 21, while the next Lady Bulldog scorer was Katie Ziegler with eight. For Pen Argyl, Abby Weaver led the way with a team-high 13 points in the losing effort.PEN ARGYLRuggiero 3-0-0-7, Campbell 1-2-4-4, O'Brien 1-1-2-3, Heisler 1-0-0-2, Irwin 1-0-0-2, Sampson 2-0-0-4, Freda 1-0-0-2, Firestone 0-0-0-0, Weaver 5-3-8-13, Sutton 0-0-2-0. TOTALS: 15-6-16-37.NORTHERN LEHIGHGuelcher 0-0-0-0, Wilk 0-0-0-0, K. Hoffman 6-9-13-21, Knerr 1-1-3-3, Kemery 0-1-4-1, D. Hoffman 0-1-2-1, Ziegler 4-0-0-8, A. Wilk 1-0-0-2, Lutz 0-0-0-0, Thomas 0-0-0-0, Olewine 8-4-9-21. TOTALS: 20-16-31-57.Pen Argyl 10 6 8 13 - 37Northern Lehigh 22 4 20 11 - 57Three pointers: PA - Ruggiero 1; NL - Olewine 1.