The Winnipeg Wesmen found the Lakehead Thunderwolves in the spirit of giving Saturday night.

The Wesmen women's basketball team forced the Thunderwolves into 29 turnovers and walked away with a 72-60 non-conference win in the CJOB Shootout at the Duckworth Centre.

Nearly half of Winnipeg's points came as a result of the turnovers, with the Wesmen turning those gaffes into 35 points on the board. 

No player was more of a menace than third-year forward Jennifer Kallon who had a career-high eight steals and a career-high 24 points. The eight steals ranks third in Wesmen Canada West program history.

Kallon had 15 points and six steals at the half as Winnipeg took a 37-36 lead into the break.

Lakehead briefly took a 40-39 lead 1:26 into the third, but the Wesmen — sparked by back-to-back Kallon threes — went on a 9-0 run over the next 1:32. Winnipeg pushed the lead to as many as 20 early in the fourth quarter on a Missy May Valdez three 90 seconds into the final period. 

Valdez finished with 13 points and six steals, and the Wesmen shot a season-best 45 per cent from the field and 8-for-15 from three.

Sara Clouthier and Eva Salat both had 12 points to lead the Thunderwolves, who fell to 1-1 in the three-day tournament. 

Winnipeg will face Manitoba Sunday at 1 p.m. to conclude the tournament, while Lakehead takes on UNBC at 11 a.m.