HOLLAND, MI - The Benedictine University women's basketball team opened a weekend venture to Michigan by winning a defensive battle with Alma College.

FINAL SCORE
Benedictine 59, Alma 51

THE DETAILS
• Benedictine trailed for the entire opening quarter after falling behind 4-0 in the opening minute
• D'Asia Williams cut the deficit to just a single point at 8-7 with just over two minutes to go in the first
• Alma responded by embarking on a run of 11-1 to open a 19-8 lead on a three-pointer early in the second quarter
• Williams scored the first five points of a 7-0 run to counter as Benedictine drew within 19-15 on a jumper from Allison Michalski with 6:30 to go in the half
• Benedictine continued to rally and closed the first half on an 11-0 run to take the lead for the first time
• Julie Jurasits tied the game with a layup at the 2:29 mark and a three-pointer from Alex Fanning put Benedictine ahead moments later
• Benedictine outscored Alma 20-10 in the second quarter
• A 6-0 spurt late in the third keyed by a triple from Britney Pitzer handed Benedictine a double-digit lead at 41-31
• Benedictine continued pulling away in the fourth, taking a 49-35 lead on a three-pointer from Taylor Hopkins
• Alma pulled no closer than the final margin the remainder of the game as Benedictine led by double digits for most of the fourth quarter

STAT LEADERS
• Benedictine finished the game shooting 35.1 percent and turned 21 Alma turnovers into 17 points
• Benedictine made 15 free throws and scored 30 points in the paint despite being outrebounded 40-38
• Williams was the only player to score double figures in the game, notching 14
• Michalski tallied nine points to go with six rebounds while Fanning added eight off the bench along with nine boards

UP NEXT
Benedictine (2-0) meets Hope, the fourth-ranked team in the nation, on Saturday afternoon in the finale of the venture