Drew Snyder wants two things from his Northwestern girls basketball team: play hard and play with confidence.

He got both Thursday night when the Warriors built a big lead in the second quarter and rolled to a 50-27 nonconference victory over Northeastern in a matchup of young teams.

“They play hard, good things usually happen,” Snyder said. “If they don’t, good things don’t. That’s as simple as it is with our team.”

Northwestern (3-8) won for the first time since Dec. 3 and broke a six-game losing streak. The four-day break from the court over Christmas might have done the Warriors more good than harm.

“The girls played confident, which we haven’t done for a few weeks now,” Snyder said. “We were hurting for some confidence after the last few weeks, and this game definitely gave it to us.”

Northeastern (2-9) led 6-4 before the Warriors went on a 14-1 run for an 18-7 lead on Lacey Lannon’s 18-footer with 5:32 left in the first half. They closed the half on an 8-0 run capped by three straight 15-footers by Katelyn Partlow, Bailey Abbott and Destiny McMurtry for a 26-9 lead.

“The best we’ve moved to ball all year, and the girls were getting open looks,” Snyder said

Snyder also finally had a healthy team with two players back from concussions and two from being sick as a tough early schedule took its toll. Snyder also pushed a button that helped by starting Partlow, a freshman, in place of McMurtry, one of the team’s two seniors. McMurtry watched the first three minutes from the bench before leading the team with 11 points and 13 rebounds.

“He says I get too nervous when I start – I need to calm down and pay attention first,” McMurtry said. “It worked. I didn’t have as much nerves as I would starting the game, and I went in knowing what they’re doing already so I could adapt.”

Northeastern’s young starting lineup of four sophomores and one junior struggled with 15 first-half turnovers and to get good shots in both halves. The Jets are also without senior leader Tracy Distl who is out for the season after suffering two concussions in six weeks.

“We had kids who played hard, gave us some quality minutes and maybe understand their role a little better,” Northeastern coach Cindy Erwin said. “Tough loss to a team that we should compete with.”