Albert Lea’s Katie Schou helped the Tigers torch the Mankato East zone defense Friday in a 53-43 win in Mankato.

Schou erupted for 22 points against the Cougars which was fueled by her 3-point shooting. Schou made five 3s against the Mankato East zone defense and she gave Albert Lea a big conference win.

Schou also did well to fill the scoring void left by Alyssa Sager, who did not play Friday because she was ill.

Abbey Arends did her part in breaking down the zone defense by slashing to the basket en route to a 21 point night.

“The best zones in the world have trouble with outside shooting and dribble penetration,” Tigers head coach Sean Gillam said.

Schou and Arends caused plenty of trouble for East with their big nights. The duo combined for 43 of Albert Lea’s 53 points.

While Arends and Schou did most of the heavy lifting, they still incorporated their teammates. Arends finished the game with eight assists.

“I thought we did a much better job of playing as a team,” said Gillam, who thought his team did not play as a team in a loss to Mayo Tuesday.

Arends undertook much of the ball-handling duties Friday as the ball movement was much improved from Tuesday.

Gillam was also impressed with how the defense handled the Cougars. East shot just 22 percent from the field and Albert Lea won the rebounding battle 31-27.

Albert Lea 53, Mankato East 43

Albert Lea 23 30 — 53

Mankato East 16 27 — 43

Albert Lea scoring: Katie Schou 22, Abbey Arends 21, Morgan Stadheim

4, Sarah Wenum 3, Nichelle Klatt 2, Heather Greibrok 1.

Mankato East scoring: Sarah Brozik, Haley Nourie 12, Taylor Homan 10, Madalyn Ziegler 3, E.J. Scharmer 2.