Women’s Basketball downs the Duhawks in the season opener

MEQUON, Wis. – The CUW women's basketball team made a statement on Saturday afternoon with a 64-58 victory over Loras, who advanced to the third round of the NCAA Tournament and finished the 2019-20 season ranked seventh in the nation.

"The first game of the year is often ugly and this one did not disappoint," said head coach Stacey Brunner-Jones. "37 turnovers is a horrible stat, but a win is a win and that was a win over a very good Loras team. I was happy with how we got to the free-throw line, but I know that we can shoot at a higher percentage. We have talked about communication and rebounding and I was happy with those. Playing Loras again will give us great practice for the NACC games on Fridays and Saturdays. We played a really good team today, last year, they were still playing in the NCAA Tournament before it was canceled and I am happy we got the win."

Loras jumped out to an early lead on Saturday and pushed the lead to 22-8 with 2:27 remaining in the first quarter.

The Falcons did not fold however and continued to chip into the Loras lead and cut the deficit to three points with a jump shot from junior Camryn Szolyga (Waukesha, Wis.) with 22 seconds remaining in the first half.

The Duhawk went into halftime with a 35-30 lead.

Camryn Szolyga gave the Falcons the lead at 39-38 with a free throw at the 5:01 mark of the third quarter and the Falcons never looked back.

The Falcons did not allow the Duhawks to score a point from 7:38 remaining in the third quarter until 6:20 remaining in the fourth quarter. CUW went on a 13-0 run during that time freshman Madeline Taubenheim (Menomonee Falls, Wis.) and senior Emily Hafemann (Hales Corner, Wis.) both scored three points to lead CUW in the run.

Leading 51-50, with 2:36 remaining, the Falcons closed the door on Loras with a 13-5 run to secure the victory.

Emily Hafemann led all players with 22 points and four assists in the victory.

Camryn Szolyga added 11 points in the victory, while senior Clara Chambers (Mineral Point, Wis.) also had 10 rebounds.

Sophomore Lindsey Smitsdorff (Coon Rapids, Minn.) collected nine points, five blocks and 11 rebounds. Posting career highs in blocks and rebounds.

The Falcons outrebounded the Duhawks on Saturday, 49-39.

The victory was the 299th for head coach Stacey Brunner-Jones and will go for her 300th victory at Loras.

The two teams will meet again in Iowa on Wednesday.