ROCHESTER HILLS, Mich. – The Spring Arbor University women's basketball team opened the 2015-16 campaign with a 77-62 win over Rochester College on Saturday.
Junior Kylie Townsley posted her third career double-double recording 21 points and 12 rebounds – both game-highs. Senior Jessica Mabry also reached double-figure scoring adding 11 points off the bench for the Cougars.
"A great start to the season," said head coach Ryan Frost. "I thought we had good effort across the board. In the second half, I thought we settled down and got really quality shots."
The game opened going back and forth as the team's battled to a 17-17 score with two minutes to play in the first quarter. The Cougars would end the period though on a 6-0 run, including a three-pointer from junior Aimee Konkel at the buzzer to put SAU on top 23-17.
Konkel started the second quarter with another triple to give Spring Arbor its largest lead of the afternoon, 26-17. Rochester (3-2) would chip away at the deficit, however, and trail by just three, 34-31, at halftime.
The Warriors kept it close through most of the third quarter, trailing by just two, 40-38, with 5:30 to play in the period. However, Townsley would score nine points over the next four minutes to fuel an 11-3 run to push the SAU lead to double digits heading into the fourth quarter.
The Cougars continued to shoot well over the final 10 minutes to maintain a comfortable margin en route to the victory.
Spring Arbor shot 65 percent (13-for-20) from the field in the second half, and 51 percent (24-for-47) for the game. The Cougars also got to the free throw line 40 times in the game and connected on 27 of those attempts. Rochester was limited to 40 percent shooting (25-for-63) and was just 4-for-13 from behind the arc.
Junior Karly Bender added nine points and seven rebounds while Rachel Driesenga, Faith Johnson and Konkel all finished with seven points.
Up next, Spring Arbor (1-0) will host Marygrove College (3-0) in its home opener on Monday, Nov. 9 at 5:30 p.m.
Women's Basketball Contact: Chris Bauman | 517-750-6504 | christopher.bauman@arbor.edu
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