DURHAM, N.C. (AP) -- Lisa Shepard finally found her range from beyond the arc Saturday in the opening game of Duke Women's Basketball Classic.

Shepard hit 45 percent of her 3-pointers for Penn State (No. 8 ESPN/USA Today, No. 9 AP) last year, and coach Rene Portland called her the school's "most complete threat from the perimeter," but she had gone a combined 0-7 on 3-pointers in the first two games.

But on Saturday, Shepard shot like she had something to prove, scoring 24 of her 31 points in the first 25 minutes, leading Penn State to a 96-64 victory over St. Joseph's (1-1).

The Nittany Lions (3-0) matched a team record with 11 3-pointers on 16 tries. Shepard made six of seven.

"My 3-pointers just weren't going in during the last couple of games, but I felt more comfortable tonight," Shepard said. "I wasn't going out there trying just to score. But my shot was open and they were going in. It was my turn tonight. Tomorrow, it'll be someone else's turn."

Coming off a surprising 73-61 win at Virginia, St. Joseph's thought it might be ready to break an eight-game losing streak to Penn State. But Shepard was too much for any team to handle, said coach Stephanie V. Gaitley.

"Penn State can score points in great big bunches, and that's what they did tonight," Gaitley said. "Shepard hadn't hit a single 3-pointer before tonight. But when she starts hitting like that, she opens up their entire inside game. That obviously makes things a lot more difficult all around."

Every starter for Penn State scored in double figures, with Andrea Garner getting 15 points. Katrena Carr added 12, and Helen Darling and Maren Walseth had 10 each.

"We were on our heels a bit at the start, but we started making one more pass, getting one more rebound and a better shot," Portland said.

Colleen McGahan led St. Joseph's with 15 points, 11 coming in the second half. Susan Moran and Jana Lichnerova had 12 each, but both were limited to just two in the second half.

"We hit our shots early, but as they started hitting their shots, we stated showing less patience," Gaitley said. "That's a deadly combination for us."

St. Joseph's led by as much as 29-22 with 5:40 left in the first half. But the Nittany Lions got in front 42-32 by halftime, then had runs of 17-0 and 16-1 in the second half to make it a rout.

Shepard scored 10 of her 18 first-half points in the last 5:14 before halftime, including a 3-pointer from the right corner that put Penn State up 30-29. The Nittany Lions never trailed again.

Shepard had two more 3-pointers in the first 5:05 after halftime. Her second 3-pointer of the half sparked the 17-0 Penn State run that put the game out of reach. Down 71-42 with 10:12 to play, St. Joseph's never again got closer than 20 points.