Playing its earliest season opener in program history Friday night, the Hope College women's basketball team was in midseason form as the nationally-ranked Flying Dutch defeated Wilmington (Ohio) College 99-63 at DeVos Fieldhouse.
Hope, which won its fifth straight MIAA championship and reached the round of 16 in the NCAA Division III tournament a year ago, scored the game's first nine points and never looked back in going on to the win.
"We're just grateful to get the first one under our belt," head coach Brian Morehouse said after the game. "I thought both teams were really excited to play on the first night. We got off to a scorching-hot start, 27-9, in that first quarter. I thought Wilmington settled in and played super-hard after that."
The game pitted one of the top coaches in Division III history in Coach Morehouse, against a Wilmington team coached by probably the greatest player to ever play in Division III, three-time national Player of the Year Sydney Moss.
"(Coach Moss) called me and said, 'I want my kids to have an experience playing at the DeVos Fieldhouse with all your fans in that arena,'" Morehouse said. "There {isn't} anybody calling me to do that. That says everything about Coach Moss wanting transformational experiences for her kids. Coach Moss was never afraid of a fight in her life {as a player}. I love that she said 'we're going to come up and figure out how good we are and what we've got to do to get better.'
"You know what that sounded like? That sounded like me 29 years ago when we were going down to Capital and Baldwin-Wallace, and we were playing DePauw and we were figuring it out."
The Flying Dutch entered the game ranked ninth in the Women's Basketball Coaches Association preseason poll and No. 12 in the D3hoops rankings.
Hope led 49-28 at halftime and 76-47 after three quarters in the contest.
Fifteen different players scored in the game for the Flying Dutch, including four in double figures. Senior guard Olivia Bellows (Lake City, Michigan / Lake City) led the way for Hope with 16 points, while fellow senior guard Jada Garner (Midland, Michigan / H.H. Dow) added 15.
Sophomore forward Maddie Petroelje (Hudsonville, Michigan / Hudsonville) scored 11 points in her first game in a Hope uniform after transferring from Loyola University of Chicago.
Sophomore guard Chloe Brunsberg (Chaska, Minnesota / Southwest Christian) just missed a double-double with 10 points and a team-high nine rebounds.
Senior center Courtney Lee (Fishers, Indiana / Indianapolis Heritage Christian) pulled down seven rebounds and sophomore guard Terin Maynard (Grand Rapids, Michigan/Jenison) came off the bench to dish out five assists.
Coach Morehouse touted the depth of his team as a factor in the contest, as Hope had to overcome an injury to junior forward Sydney Vis (Byron Center, Michigan/Grand Rapids South Christian) as well as some foul trouble.
"{We} just stepped up. That's going to be our strength all year long," Morehouse said. "I think we're going to have a different hero every night. I don't think we're riding one kid to a championship. If we win, it's going to be because we've got balance, we've got depth, and we've got unselfish kids."
The Flying Dutch outrebounded the Quakers 50-40 and forced 25 turnovers. They also outscored Wilmington from the free-throw line 34-8 for the contest.
Hope returns to action Friday, Nov. 15 in a tournament jointly hosted by the Flying Dutch and Calvin University, with the games to be played at Calvin's Van Noord Arena since Hope will be hosting the MIAA volleyball tournament at DeVos Fieldhouse.
Hope will face Loras College on Friday at 7 p.m., followed on Saturday, Nov. 16, with a contest against nationally-ranked Illinois Wesleyan University at 4 p.m.