SOUTHFIELD, Mich. -- Lawrence Tech caught fire midway through the first half and maintained the lead the rest of the way in Friday night's 85-71 victory over Point Park University women's basketball. It was the first night of the LTU Tipoff Classic hosted by the Blue Devils.

Lawrence Tech (1-0) ended the first quarter on an 8-0 run to snatch a lead of 21-19 after 10 minutes. The Blue Devils rode that momentum into the second quarter to build a 44-34 lead at halftime.

Tyra James put up a team-high 16 points on 7 for 11 from the field for Point Park (0-1). Michelle Burns tallied 12 points, seven assists and three steals. She scored on a drive late in the fourth quarter, and James followed that up with one of her two treys to pull the Pioneers within 79-71 at the 1:16 mark.

That was as close as the Pioneers would get. They out-shot and out-rebounded Lawrence Tech, but lost the turnover battle, 20-12. Point Park shot 43 percent overall compared to 40 percent for LTU. The Pioneers led in rebounding, 42-39. The Blue Devils got 28 points off the costly turnovers.

Outside shooting was a key for both teams with LTU coming up with four more makes to provide separation. The Blue Devils attempted 38 3-pointers and made 13 of them for 34 percent. Point Park connected on 9 of 21 for 43 percent.

The Pioneers were up, 13-6, early on with Taylor Kirschner hitting a trey from the corner and then Sierra Seneta making two 3-pointers in a row. Kirschner had 12 points on 5 for 12 and a couple of treys.

Point Park was still up, 19-13, on Carly Lutz's putback layup late in the first quarter. But LTU turned the tide with point guard Kendall Williams hitting a trey at the first-quarter buzzer to give her 10 points the first 10 minutes. She finished with 19 points and 10 assists.

LTU's Teryn Kline was a dagger in Point Park's side. She put up 25 points and made seven 3-pointers, including four in the first half. Kline made a couple of treys during a key, 15-2 run in the second quarter. Williams had ignited the run with an outside jumper. Danielle Hanson added a couple of inside baskets to finish off the spurt. Hanson totaled 16 points and eight rebounds.

Point Park played 12 players and scored 27 bench points. Besides Kirschner's 12, the bench also had six from Seneta and six and a team-high nine rebounds from Taylor Rinn. Starter Ariana Sanders scored eight points, all in the first half.

Point Park continues its stay at the LTU Tipoff Classic with a matchup Saturday with No. 22-ranked Michigan-Dearborn (1-0). The Wolverines opened up with a 70-65 win over Xavier (La.) on Friday and are coming off a 24-7 campaign last year. Tipoff is 2 p.m. ET.

Follow the Pioneers all season long at PointParkSports.com and on social media @PointParkSports and @PointParkWBB hashtag #PPUWBB and #PPUHOOPS. Live coverage of Saturday's game includes video streaming and stats courtesy of LTU athletics.