The Friday Harbor girls basketball team righted the ship in a hurry.

Less then 24 hours after suffering their first defeat, the Wolverines got back on the winning track in short order with a 43-24 runaway victory on the road Saturday at University Prep.

The Wolverines (3-1) overcame a ragged start but never trailed after tip-toeing out to a slim 8-5 advantage at the end of the first period. They led by six at the half, added two points to that advantage by the end of the third and then outscored the Pumas 14-3 in the fourth and final period in clinching their first win on the road.

Junior Maggie Andersen put up 14 points to pace the offense, while senior Kayla Short contributed nine and sophomore Mandy Turnbull had eight. Andersen, averaging 16.5 points per-game thus far, has scored in double figures in each of the Wolverines first four games. Sophomore Liz Taylor added seven points and Kelsey Barnes had five.

Anna de Vries and Maddie Jostul scored six points apiece to lead the Pumas.

With 16 games regular-season games to go, the Wolverines are one win away from matching last season’s victory total. They can match that mark — win No. 4 — at home Friday against Shoreline Christian.

On Friday, the Wolverines suffered their first defeat of the season after coming up short in a 44-31 loss on the road at La Conner, the Northwest 1A/2B League defending champ.

Trailing 20-12 at the break, the Wolverines lost ground and fell behind by 18 after scoring a total of just three points in the third period. Despite outscoring the Braves 16-11 in the final period, the deficit proved too large for Friday Harbor to overcome in the final eight minutes of play.

Head Coach Eric Jangard tipped his hat to his counterpart, La Conner Head Coach Scott Novak, and to the discipline and tenacity of the Braves, playing this year without two key players from its 2B state tournament team of a year ago.

“They might not be quite the team they were last year,” Jangard said of the Braves, “but like any Scott Novak-coached team, they’re well-schooled and solid fundamentally. They got three bigs down low and they know how to find the mismatch and to work it.”

Andersen tallied 16 and Barnes added seven points to lead the Wolverines.

Next: League play resumes Friday as the Wolverines host Shoreline Christian; tip off is 4:30 p.m. They travel to Coupeville Tuesday for a clash against the Wolves, a 1A regional rival, beginning at 4 p.m.