The Spartan women’s basketball team got off to a strong start during their opening weekend of play at the North Carolina Wesleyan College Jean Edge Classic. The team suffered their first loss against area rival Baldwin Wallace University on Tuesday.

The Jean Edge Classic was a fine forum for the Spartans to shine as they posted two wins of ten-plus points and center Laura Mummey posted double-doubles in both matchups versus Methodist College and North Carolina College. The team shone in their first face-off as they led the Methodist Monarchs through the entire game. The team had 61 rebounds and claimed 26 turnovers as they led with a 35.6 percent field goal percentage.

Standout players included Mummey with 15 points and 10 rebounds, Berit Eppard with 10 points and 12 rebounds and Brooke Orcutt with eight points and nine rebounds. The Spartans won with a score of 55-43 in this defensive showdown.

The ladies kept their momentum going during their game against host North Carolina College. The team started the game with another victory in mind, winning eight straight points to open the first half. The team kept a strong presence in the paint and kept the pressure on the Battling Bishops to make difficult shots. The Spartans scored the final field goal with 3:26 left in the game to end with a score of 79-63.

The top Spartan contributors were Mummey with 23 points and 10 rebounds, Orcutt with 14 points and 10 rebounds and Julie Mooney with 12 points. Mummey and Orcutt both were selected for the all-tournament team and Mummey earned further honors as the University Athletics Association Women’s Basketball Player of the Week.

The great individual play continued in Tuesday’s game versus Baldwin Wallace. The opposition was much tougher with this familiar rival. The teams traded points in the first half with the Yellow Jackets putting together a few scoring runs that kept the Spartans on their toes. The second half was dominated heavily by the strong Baldwin Wallace team as they added eight three-point shots and multiple field goals to their total. The Spartans were unable to match the skill of the Yellow Jacket team and ended with a score of 65-89.

The Case Western team was outmatched in scoring percentages of every category, including free-throw percentage where the ladies made only 11 of 17 attempts from the line. Individual players still had strong showings as Mooney led the team in scoring off the bench with 15 points. Orcutt scored 10 points and Amanda Germer added 11 points to the team total.

The season will keep gaining momentum as the ladies head to the Fred Raizk Tournament in Wilmington, Ohio this weekend before hosting their season home-opener against Kenyon University on Tuesday Nov. 26th at the Veale Center.