The Ursuline College basketball team opened up the 2015-16 season with a 77-63 road win over Mount Vernon Nazarene University on Saturday afternoon.
 
Ursuline (1-0) ran out to a 10-0 lead in the first period sparked by a pair of three pointers by sophomore Camryn Hill (Strongsville/Strongsville) and freshman Natalie Koenig (Wauseon/Wauseon).
 
Mount Vernon (5-1) answered with a 9-3 run over their own to cut the Ursuline lead to 16-12 with 3:30 to play in the first quarter. The Arrows came right back with a 13-5 run over their own to close the first period out with a 29-17 lead.
 
The Cougars inside presence of Megan Beidelman helped close the gap in the second quarter. Beidelman went 5-for-9 from the floor in the first half with 16 points and seven boards. Ursuline still held a double-digit advantage at the intermission 48-38.
 
In the third quarter, Mount Vernon pulled to within five at 52-47 Koenig connected on a floater in the paint and then found junior Erica Huber (Anna/Anna) who knocked down one of her four three-pointers in the game to make it 57-47. The Cougars kept battling back and a three-pointer from Natalie Carpenter made it a 57-53 late in the third.
 
Early in the fourth quarter Mount Vernon pulled back to within five at 62-57 before Huber drained back-to-back triples to push the Arrows lead back to double digits at 69-58 and ended the last of the Mount Vernon runs.
 
Ursuline finished with four players in double figures paced by Lewis who had a career-high 17 on 5-for-11 shooting and also pulled down seven rebounds. Huber finished with 16, including 4-for-10 from beyond the arc while the freshmen duo of Brigan Wymer (Delta/Delta) and Koenig had 15 each. Huber also chipped in career-best eight steals. 
 
Beidelman led all scorers with 23 points and 16 rebounds.
 
Ursuline shot 41 percent from the field on the afternoon and were 10-for-30 from behind the three-point line. Mount Vernon shot 37 percent from the field and went 8-for-24 from beyond the arc. The Arrows were 17-for-28 from the free throw line while the Cougars went 11-for-14.
 
The Arrows will open the home portion of the schedule on Tuesday evening at 7:00pm against Lake Erie College. Live stats and video will be available at ursulinearrows.com.