A fast-and-furious start for the Hope College women's basketball team set the table for a satisfying rematch with Trine University.

In a matchup of nationally-ranked teams, the Flying Dutch avenged a December home loss to the Thunder with an 83-69 victory on the road Wednesday.

Hope — ranked No. 7 in this week's WBCA Coaches Poll and No. 8 by D3hoops.com — never trailed in the game and jumped out to a 26-11 first-quarter lead. The victory pulled the Flying Dutch (17-2, 8-2 MIAA) within a half-game of the MIAA lead.

Trine — No. 11 D3hoops/No. 13 WBCA — has played one fewer league game than Hope. The Thunder fell to 14-4 overall and 8-1 in MIAA play.

"We needed to get off to a great start against them," head coach Brian Morehouse said. "I thought we played super poised. Our kids were having fun playing basketball; that's when we play our best."

The Flying Dutch shot 71.4% from the floor during the decisive first quarter, finishing 10-of-14 from the field and 6-of-9 from 3-point range.

Senior forward Claire Baguley (Ada, Michigan / Forest Hills Central) sank all four of her field-goal attempts during the opening 10 minutes, including the one 3-pointer she attempted.

Baguley finished with a team-high 22 points.

Senior forward Savannah Feenstra (Osceola, Indiana / NorthWood) buried two 3-pointers during the first quarter. Senior guard Kate Majerus (Sycamore, Illinois / Sycamore), senior guard Meg Morehouse (Zeeland, Michigan / Zeeland East) and freshman guard Karsen Karlblom (Crystal Lake, Illinois / Prairie Ridge) made one 3 apiece.

Early in the third quarter, Trine cut the Flying Dutch's lead to six points. Hope closed the final 6:11 of the quarter on a 16-4 run to reassert control of the game.

"We haven't played well in some third quarters. We knew they were going to make a run," Brian Morehouse said. "We drew up a play for a freshman, Keegan Kaiser, and she delivered. She made a great red, got downhill and earned an and-one. That really stopped the bleeding on their comeback."

The Flying Dutch put four players in double figures.

Senior guard Ella McKinney (Haslett, Michigan / Haslett) chipped in 16 points, 11 of which came during the second half.

Feenstra finished with 11 that garnered her a double-double with a game-high 12 rebounds. Hope finished plus-16 on the boards, outrebounding Trine by a 44-28 margin.

Meg Morehouse added 10 points.

Trine received a game-high 29 points from guard Makayla Ardis and 19 points from guard Sidney Wagner. No one else reached double figures.

The Flying Dutch's next game is Saturday, Jan. 28, at 3 p.m. against Albion College at DeVos Fieldhouse. The Britons are responsible for Hope's only other loss this season.