Nov. 29, 2008

Box Score

Davenport, Iowa - In their first ever trip to Davenport, IA, the Lady Panthers used an 11-point halftime cushion to claim their 7th straight win to open the season with an 86-73 victory over Ashford University.

The Panthers, which had not played a game in a seven days, did not show any rust at all on the offensive side of the ball as they used two balanced halves to down Ashford in the two school's first ever meeting.

DU jumped out to a quick 6-0 lead and saw their lead grow to as many as 14 in the early stages of the first half. At the 7:11 mark, Davenport claimed its largest lead of 20 when Kristi Boehm stole and ball and found Kendra Anderson for a transition bucket but Ashford closed out the remaining time on a 14-7 run to trail by only 11 heading into the locker room.

Determined to not let Ashford back in the game, the Panthers increased their lead to 17 points just 8:21 into the second half and Ashford never again seriously threatened the lead as DU held at least a 10-point margin for the rest of the game.

Sophomore Kallie Benike had an outstanding all-around effort with 19 points to go along with 9 rebounds and was joined in double-digit scoring by four other teammates as Kristi Boehm, Carrie Grubius, Kendra Anderson and Karlee Despres all chipped in with 10 points each as the Panthers finished the game shooting jus 38% from the field. DU outrebounded Ashford 55-43 and also forced their opponent into 23 turnovers.

Davenport will look to continue their winning ways on Sunday when they take on the host school St. Ambrose in a matchup of the #12 and #15 ranked teams in the country. Game time is set for 2:00 PM CST.