SWARTHMORE, Pa. – Rosemont rookie Ke'alohilani Naone-Carter scored 24 points to go with 11 rebounds for a double-double against host Swarthmore College tonight to win the season opener for Rosemont. With the result, Rosemont is 1-0, while Swarthmore starts off 0-1 to open the season.
 
The teams fought a close battle throughout, with the Ravens taking charge and fending off the Swarthmore Garnet over the last few minutes to hold on to their lead.
 
In the first quarter, trailing 5-1, Rosemont struck back with a nine-point run, featuring treys from Naone-Carter and Ayanna Thompson to give the Ravens a 10-5 lead with 4:11 left in the quarter. The Garnet would scratch back to within a point at 14-13, but two Thompson free throws would put the Ravens in front by three points, 16-13 at the first break.
 
The Garnet would put together a nine-point run of their own to start the second quarter, to take a 22-16 lead, but two jumpers from Naone-Carter and one more from Thompson would knot the game at 22 apiece with 6:07 left in the quarter. Tied at 24, the home side would score six straight to take a lead with 3:26 left in the half. Swarthmore would string together another eight straight to take a 38-26 lead with 1:43 left. The Ravens responded with another nine-point run to trim the Swarthmore lead back to only three points, 38-35. A last-second Garnet bucket would give Swarthmore a 40-35 lead at the half.
 
The Ravens opened up the second half strongly, putting together a six-point run to grab a 41-40 lead. The teams fought back and forth with neither side gaining more than a three-point advantage. Defenses held strong as Jasmyn Parker scored two pairs of free throws to put the Ravens up 52-49 with 3:14 left in the quarter, but neither team would score before the buzzer.
 
Another 1 ½ minutes went by before a basket went in, but unfortunately for Rosemont, they were a pair of free throws and a couple of layups by the Garnet, who re-took the lead, 55-52 with 7:55 on the clock. The Ravens' defense kept the team in the contest at this stage of the game. After not scoring any points for 6:13, the Ravens would start their comeback. Trailing 55-53 with 7:01 left in the contest, the Garnet put together a six-point run in what looked like it would put away the Ravens. Trailing by six points, 61-55, the Ravens would craft a streak of their own. This time, the Ravens would hold Swarthmore off the scoreboard for the final 3:33 of the game, while scoring the final 11 points of the game. Baskets by Shirle Brown, Leilani Naone-Carter and Ke'alohilani Naone-Carter, along with clutch free throws from Ayanna Thompson and Leilani Naone-Carter (to complete a three-point play) would be the winning combination for Rosemont tonight.
 
It was a team win for Rosemont. In addition to a strong game for Ke'alohilani Naone-Carter, Ayanna Thompson scored 14 and Jasmyn Parker added 12 to the Ravens' total. Shirle Brown led the Ravens with 16 boards to go with her eight points. Though neither team shot well from the field tonight, the Ravens out-rebounded Swarthmore, 55-45. Rosemont shot 68.6% from the line tonight compared to 52.4% for Swarthmore. The Ravens also drew 26 Swarthmore fouls (19 for Rosemont), leading to 14 more shots from the charity stripe, where Rosemont accounted for 24 points (compared to 11 for the Garnet).
 
The Ravens will continue their tough season-opening four-game road stretch next Tuesday, when they make the trip to Dover, Delaware to face the Wesley Wolverines in a non-conference game. The game is scheduled for a 7:00pm tip.