'Roo Women Roll Past Centenary for 10th Win

SHERMAN, Texas – The Austin College women's basketball team scored the first 14 points of the game and never looked back, coasting past Centenary College 67-40 on Saturday evening in Hughey Gym. The 'Roos improve to 10-11 overall and 5-6 in Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference play with the victory.

Austin College got five points from Kendall Heitmeier and four from Kali Vittallo as part of their 14-0 run to open the game, and the Ladies were unable to get on the board until the 15:14 mark when Kayla Ruth knocked down a free throw to make it 14-1. Erin Riley buried a three and after Centenary got a bucket by Rebecca Thompson to make it 21-7 with 12:11, the 'Roos put together their second 17-1 run of the game to make it 38-8 on a pair of free throws by Brianna Harvey with 5:19 left before the break.

Vittallo and Madi Aliff added three pointers and Olivia Cicci scored to push it to a 46-13 game with 2:35 left, and the 'Roos went into the locker room leading 46-17 after Jessica Bruti knocked down a three for Centenary with 21 seconds left before halftime.

Harvey and Heitmeier each scored five early points in the second half to extend the margin to 58-23 with 15:34 left in the game, and the 'Roos would coast from there, with Olivia Bailey, Chrissy Ray, Kayla Linthicum, and Lexi Abercrombie getting into the scoring action down the stretch to make it a 67-40 final.

Heitmeier finished with 12 points on 5-of-6 shooting, including 2-of-3 from three, in just 12 minutes of action to lead the 'Roos. Riley added 10 points, and Ray finished just shy of a double-double, scoring nine points and grabbing nine rebounds to go along with two blocked shots. Harvey and Vittallo each had nine points, with Vittallo adding four rebounds and four steals.

Bruti led the Ladies with 16 points, hitting 4-of-8 from long range and adding a pair of steals. Thompson chipped in seven points, seven rebounds, and four assists for Centenary. Austin College hounded the Ladies into 25 turnovers and just 21.5% shooting from the field in the game.

Austin College athletic teams participate as a member of the NCAA Division III and the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference.