HOLLAND, Mich. – The Mount Union women's basketball team opened its season with a 75-55 victory over North Central (Ill.) in the Hope College Tournament Friday night at the DeVos Fieldhouse.
The Purple Raiders (1-0) were led by sophomore
Maddy Miles (Brunswick Hills / Padua Franciscan) with 16 points and senior
Isi Palamone (Murrysville, Pa. / Franklin Regional) with 13 points and eight rebounds. Juniors
Emma Cannon (Dalton) and
Gretchen Koken (Harmony, Pa. / Seneca Valley) were also in double digits with 11 and 10 points respectively.
North Central (1-1) was led by Mitrese Smith, Allison Pearson, and Jessica Kowalczyk, who each had10 points.
Mount Union and North Central were tied at 10 a piece with 4:42 remaining in the first quarter until a three pointer from Palamone ignited a 11-4 run to end the first quarter and give the Raiders a 21-14 lead.
The second quarter saw the Raiders opened up with four different scorers and extending the lead out to 29-16. Miles scored five points in a 10-3 run later in the quarter to give Mount Union its largest lead of the first half 41-23. Mount Union led 43-26 at the break.
North Central closed the gap to 13 points to start the second half, but a 9-2 run by the Raiders finished with a layup by senior Layni Zielger (Pittsburgh, Pa. / Seton LaSalle) gave Mount Union its largest lead of the night 57-37 with 2:44 left in the third quarter.
North Central got no closer than 16 points the rest of the way as Mount Union went on to the 75-59 win.
Mount Union returns to the DeVos Fieldhouse tomorrow November 13 at 3:00 p.m. to take on the winner of Edgewood (Wis.) or No. 1 ranked and tournament host Hope.
