WESTLAKE — A fourth-quarter outburst carried the Westlake Rams to a 52-38 opening-round win over St. James Thursday in the non-select Division III girls basketball playoffs.

The No. 13 Rams (19-11) advanced to play at No. 4 French Settlement in next week’s regional round. French Settlement had a first-round bye.

After a sluggish first half, the Rams came to life in the third quarter. Trailing 22-13 after St. James (14-10) scored the first two baskets of the second half, Westlake went on a 12-0 run to take its first lead at 25-22. Lady Fradieu scored eight points during the Rams’ outburst.

The lead changed hands three more times in the quarter, with St. James taking a 32-31 lead into the final quarter.

Westlake took the lead for good on a steal and layup by Kyley Winfrey to start the fourth quarter. The Rams scored the first nine points of the quarter and stretched their lead to 12 points on back-to-back 3-pointers by Maddy Guillory. Westlake outscored St. James 21-6 in the quarter.

“We had been playing a matchup zone, but in the fourth quarter we switched it up and played a straight zone,” Rams head coach Gloria Fontenot said. “We tried to close the gaps so they couldn’t get into the paint and to take away their drive-and-kick game.”

Offensively, Fontenot had to tell her team to get more aggressive.

“We knew they would come out in a 1-3-1, which we also use and should have been ready for,” Fontenot said. “We were breaking the press, but sometimes not getting shots up because we were not taking them from mid-range. Sometimes we were overpassing, girls that were open were passing to ones who weren’t. I told them to start taking those mid-range shots and we were able to knock some down.”

Fradieu and Gabby Guillory scored 13 points each to lead Westlake. Sa’Vya Sutherland led St. James with nine points.