The Dominican University women's basketball team topped the visiting Kalamazoo College Hornets, 70-58, in the 2016-2017 season opener for the Stars. Freshman
Timiya Ray, playing in her first collegiate contest, logged a double-double in the winning effort for Dominican, posting a game-high 19 points and 12 rebounds.
"Tonight was a great team effort," said fifth-year head coach
Gabby Johnson following the win. "We were able to feed off the energy from the crowd. Tomorrow we move on. We have to keep our heads down and keep working."
With the Stars leading 31-26 with 2:20 to play in the second quarter, the visiting Hornets closed out the half on a 7-0 run to take a 33-31 lead at the break.
Kalamazoo added to their lead over the first four minutes of the third quarter before Dominican used an 11-1 run to pull back in front 44-39 with 2:17 to play in the third. After four straight points for the Hornets narrowed Dominican's lead down to one,
Claudia DeNigris closed the quarter with back-to-back threes to push the Stars' lead back to seven, 50-43 going to the fourth quarter.
Early in the fourth, Kalamazoo trimmed the lead back down to four before the Stars went on another run, this time outscoring the Hornets 11-2 over a three-minute span, to push the lead to 61-48 and the Stars never looked back.
Ray scored 15 of her game-high 19 points in the second half, including posting nine points on 3-for-5 shooting in the third quarter. The rookie shot 5-for-11 from the field and converted on nine of her 11 attempts at the free throw line in 34 minutes of work.
Shamia Clark added 17 points, going a perfect 8-for-8 at the foul line, while Dominican shot 26-for-31 at the charity stripe as a team.
For the Hornets, Danielle Simon led the way, scoring 18 points on 6-for-14 shooting in the losing effort.
The win marked the first win in the season opener for the Stars since edging North Central College, 88-81, to open the 2011-2012 season. Dominican now hits the road, traveling to St. Louis to take on the Spalding University Golden Eagles on Friday at Webster University before taking on the host Gorloks on Saturday.
