WASHINGTON, Pa. – Academic All-American senior forward Erin Hollinger (Chardon, Ohio/Chardon) scored a game-high 12 points and a smothering all-around defensive effort from the Case Western Reserve University women's basketball team lifted the Spartans to a 59-33 season-opening victory over Washington & Jefferson College (Pa.) on Tuesday evening inside the Henry Memorial Center.
The Spartans (1-0) are back in action this Friday and Saturday, November 18-19, at the DoubleTree Classic hosted by Carnegie Mellon University (Pa.). Case opens the weekend versus the University of Mount Union at 6:00 p.m. on Saturday.
As a team, Case limited the Presidents to just 20.7 percent shooting from the floor (12-of-58) and just 15.8% (3-of-19) from three-point range.
Washington & Jefferson scored the opening points on a three-point field goal with 19:20 left in the opening half by Emily Abraham. The Spartans answered with a 17-0 run that spanned the next 8:18 of play, giving the visitors a 17-3 advantage. That lead grew to as large as 18 (25-7) with 4:32 showing on the clock following a three-pointer by junior guard Evy Iacono (Cincinnati, Ohio/Mount Notre Dame) as the Spartans possessed a 28-13 lead at halftime.
Out of the break, Hollinger opened the scoring in the second half for Case with a bucket making it 30-13 at the 19:19 mark, but W&J cut the deficit to eight with a 9-0 spurt and trailed 30-22 following a jumper from Kara Seamon.
However, the Spartans answered with a quick 8-0 run of their own on four points from Hollinger, a bucket by Iacono and a pair of free throws from freshman Brooke Orcutt (Morrison, Colo./Dakota Ridge) and the Presidents weren't able to draw any closer as the visitors pulled away and eventually cruised to the 26-point victory.
Hollinger's 12 points led 10 Spartans who found the scoring column for the game. The fourth-year Spartan also added five steals, four rebounds and two blocks to her stat line. Iacono and freshman point guard Amanda Germer (Malvern, Pa./Great Valley) each finished with nine points, while freshman forward Berit Eppard (Englewood, Colo./Cherry Creek) finished with seven points and a team-best seven rebounds in her collegiate debut.