Basketball Routs Running Eagles In Season Opener

The Brenau basketball team opened the 2016-17 campaign with a decisive 81-48 victory over Life (Ga.) University on Tuesday in Marietta.

Sydney Haas scored a career-high 17 points and the squad shot a blistering 11-18 from three point range to win their first game of the season.

After a taking a 13-9 lead at the end of the first quarter, the Golden Tiger offense exploded in the second quarter as Haas scored the first four points of the period to extend the lead to eight. Briah Woods scored three of her 11 points during a 12-5 run and Dominique Patrick converted two free throws to extend the lead to 35-20 just before the break.

After intermission, the Golden Tigers continued their hot shooting as three pointers by Autumn Dodson and Jasmine Knight and another short jumper from Hass extended the lead to 20 points.

Dodson led all scorers with 18 points, while Quinnesha Turner added 11 points and four assists. Newcomer Knight played a very well-rounded game with six points, nine assists, seven rebounds and four steals, and senior post Meagan Kenimer chipped in six points.

Life (2-2 overall) was led by D'Arcy Draper's 11 points.

"This was a great team effort," said head coach Kris Stewart. "Life presented a lot of challenges for us, but we executed our game plan. We really shared the ball well (19 assists) and everyone contributed to the win."

"Credit goes to both the team and to my assistant coaches for their hard work and preparation."

The Golden Tigers shot 46% (29-63) from the field, while the Running Eagles shot 21% (16-63).

Brenau (1-0 overall) next travels to Montreat (NC) on Saturday for a 2 pm matchup.