WHEATON, Ill.—The Trine women's basketball team opened its season off with a convincing 87-53 win over Wisconsin-Platteville at the Beth Baker Classic on Friday afternoon.

Three minutes into the first half, the Thunder grabbed the lead over the Pioneers and never looked back on its way to victory. Trine held a nine point advantage after the first quarter and increased its lead to 39-22 going into the second half. After three quarters, the Thunder was up by 24 points.

The Thunder was led by sophomore Brandi Dawson (Garrett, Ind./Garrett) with 16 points in the first half and sevens rebounds. Junior Hayley Martin (Auburn, Ind./DeKalb) added 12 points with six rebounds. Freshman Tashayla Sutorius (Fort Wayne, Ind./Wayne) contributed nine points with five rebounds and four assists. Junior Kayla Freeman (Battle Creek, Mich./Battle Creek Central) chipped in nine points with seven rebounds and two assists. Katy Steers (Portage, Ind./Portage) added in eight points and four rebounds.

The Pioneers were led by Lexis Macomber, who came off the bench to score eight points and make three rebounds. Allison Prestegaard and Kassie Buchholtz each had seven points.

The Thunder totaled 52 rebounds to Wisconsin-Platteville's 40. Trine boasted a 74.3% free throw percentage and added a 43.3 field goal percentage.

Trine will return to action Saturday when it will play in the championship game of the Beth Baker Classic at 4 p.m. The Thunder will take on the winner of today's game of Wheaton vs. Blackburn College.