The women's basketball team went into halftime with a 17-point lead and never looked back in the second half by defeating Simpson College 79-73 in the first game of the Luther-Tip Off Tournament.

Leading the charge for the Falcons was Alise Holst (Plainview, MN, Plainview-Elgin-Millville).  She poured in 21 points.  Four Falcons  scored in double figures.  Tiffany Gregorich (Altoona, WI, Altoona) scored 17 points for the second time in as many games.

Maranda Dohrn (Lake City, MN, Lake City) had 11 points to go along with her team-leading 12 rebounds.  Nikki Guhr (Muskego, WI, Muskego) rounded out the double-digit scoring by adding 10 points throughout the game.

The Falcons were in control right from the very beginning, opening the game on a 9-2 run.  The largest Falcon lead was 22 when Liz Anderson (Braham, MN, Braham) nailed a three-pointer to put the Falcons up 44-22 with 2:43 remaining in the first half.   Anderson finished with six points, her first points of her college career.

Even though Simpson would start the second half on a tear, the Falcons always led by as many as six points throughout the entire second half.

The Falcons shot an outstanding 50 percent from behind the three-point arc.  As a team, UWRF made 9 of 18.  Tiffany Gregorich and Holst each had three apiece.

UWRF was also stellar from behind the charity stripe.  Even though they managed to make only two free throws in the first half, the Falcons ended the night 18-22 for 81.8 percent.  Simpson shot 73.7 from the line.

Simpson did finish with a better field goal percentage.  They were 27-63 for a total of 42.9 percent.  UWRF was not far behind, as they finished 26-54 for 40.6 percent. 

UWRF only made seven field goals in the second half, but it proved to be enough as they escaped with the 79-73 victory.

The Falcons are now 2-0 to open the 2011-2012 campaign.

UWRF returns to action tomorrow at 3 p.m. as they take on tournament host Luther.
The Falcons are 3-5 all-time against Luther.