Mandan posted a convincing 86-56 win over Turtle Mountain in the West Region girls basketball tournament quarterfinals Thursday afternoon at the Bismarck Civic Center.

Mandan coach Greg Amundson said he would have been just as excited had the winning margin been one point.

"The first game of the region tournament is the toughest and most important, I think," Amundson said. "No matter how many points you win by, winning it makes things a little easier. We were concerned about this game. Turtle Mountain has a good team. They beat us, and they beat Bismarck and Century. To come out of here with a 30-point win, I'm more than happy with that."

The three-time defending region champion Braves advanced to this afternoon's semifinal round where they will take on No. 1-seeded Bismarck - a 74-53 winner over Williston in the day's first quarterfinal.

The Demons defeated the Braves twice during the regular season, both times by double-digit margins - 63-49 and 73-61. As far as Amundson is concerned, that was ages ago.

"I think we're a whole different team now," he said. "We were a little out of sync the first time, and the second time we were without (guard Brittaney) Zander. She's a sparkplug. It'll be an interesting game. It always is when we play Bismarck. We'll be ready."

The Braves led 41-29 at halftime, despite shooting 7-for-25 from the floor and 18-for-34 from the free-throw line. It was 28-28 with just under four minutes to play, but Mandan finished the half on a 13-1 run. The run put the Braves in control, but Amundson wasn't pleased with his team's 7-for-16 showing at the charity stripe.

"We're way better than that. We take pride in the fact that we can shoot the ball well from the field and from the free-throw line," he said. "I don't know what it was. We had a chance to bury them early, but we struggled. We were up by 12, though. That was good."

Turtle Mountain got into serious foul trouble in the first half, with four of its starters picking up at least three fouls.

Mandan was never threatened in the second half. A 13-2 run - which included nine points off Turtle Mountain turnovers - put the Braves up 65-43 with 9:31 to play. Steph Pedersen had three steals and four baskets in the run.

Pedersen, a 5-foot-7 sophomore, said that stretch of basketball is what she and the Braves hope to see more of in today's semifinal.

"We have to play with the same kind of intensity, and we have to do it all the way through," said Pedersen, who also had five steals. "You can't struggle at any time against Bismarck."

The Braves converted 47 Turtle Mountain turnovers into 39 points.

"That's the way we play basketball," Amundson said. "We like to get after teams with our press, force turnovers and then finish. We have kids who can finish."

Ali Collins and Zander added 17 and 11 points, respectively, for the Braves, who improved to 12-8. Zander also had eight of Mandan's 28 steals.

Sasha Golus led Turtle Mountain (12-8) with 13.

TURTLEMOUNTAIN (56): Quinn Parisien 1-4 2-3 4, Jordan Allard 3-6 2-2 11, Whitney Wallette 0-3 0-0 0, Zena Parisien 0-1 0-4 0, Julia Davis 4-7 1-2 9, Hailey Poitra 0-2 1-2 1, Danielle Davis 1-2 0-0 2, Mariah Marcellais 4-8 0-0 8, Sasha Golus 6-10 1-2 13, Ashley Short 0-0 0-0 0, Jezzarae Larocque 2-2 1-3 5. Totals 22-48 9-20 56.

MANDAN (86): Mic Longtin 2-3 1-2 6, Kristie Zachmeier 1-2 0-0 3, Taylor Miller 0-1 0-0 0, Amber Riopelle 0-1 2-2 2, Anna Helmers 1-7 5-6 7, Sadie Berger 0-2 3-4 3, Ali Collins 6-12 4-8 17, Steph Pedersen 9-14 0-2 19, Breanna Levi 1-7 5-9 7, Brooke Sandau 2-4 0-0 4, Brittaney Zander 3-7 3-7 11, Elizabeth Meyer 1-4 0-0 2, Emily Helmers 1-4 1-3 3, Brittni Winkler 1-4 0-0 2. Totals 28-72 24-43.

3-pointers: TM 3 (Allard 3), M 6 (Zander 2, Pedersen 1, Collins 1, Longtin 1, Zachmeier 1). Rebounds: TM 45 (Larocque 9), M 40 (Levi 6). Assists: TM 12 (Davis 5), M 20 (Zander 4, Winkler 4). Steals: TM 12 (Golus 5), M 28 (Zander 8). Turnovers: TM 47, M 23. Fouls: B 25, M 20. Fouled out: TM, Davis.

Records: TM 12-8, Mandan 12-8.