SAULT STE. MARIE, Mich. – The Davenport women's basketball team got to the even mark in conference play (3-3, 5-8 overall) with their largest margin of victory this season (73-55) on Thursday night at Bud Cooper Gym. The Panthers opened 2018 by shooting a season-high 51.9 percent (27-of-52) from the floor and had four of their five starters and five total players score in double figures. Lake Superior State falls to 0-10 overall and 0-6 in the GLIAC.

HOW IT HAPPENED
-The Panthers outscored the Lakers in every quarter to cruise to the 18-point win. Davenport scored 41 points in the first half and started the game shooting 9-of-17 from the floor in the first quarter. They followed that by going 9-of-15 in the second quarter.
-Davenport never trailed in the contest and led for 38:56 because it took 1:04 to score their first basket. The Panthers led 10-8 with 3:07 left in the quarter but finished on a 10-3 run to lead 20-11 after 10 minutes. DU went inside early and often in the quarter scoring 16 of their 20 points in the paint.
-DU scored the first four points of the second quarter to increase their lead to 24-11. The lead grew to 33-16 with 4:08 left in the quarter after a three-pointer by Emily Severn. Davenport led by 15 going into halftime and scored eight points off turnovers in the quarter.
-The Lakers cut the lead down to 46-35 with 3:37 left in the third quarter but DU upped their lead back to 53-37 by the end of the quarter. Hannah Wilkerson hit a layup as the horn sounded after Amanda Merz split at the free throw line.
-It was an 11-point lead or better throughout the fourth quarter. Davenport struggled from the foul line in the first half going 2-of-7 but in the second half shot 11-of-14 at the stripe including 6-of-6 in the fourth quarter.

INSIDE THE BOX
-Lake Superior State finished the game shooting 38.9 percent for the game and were 8-of-19 behind the arc. Davenport made five more free throws than LSSU attempted going 13-of-21 at the line.
-Severn went for 20 points to tie her season-high and scored in double figures for the seventh time this season. She went 8-of-15 from the floor and also led the team with eight rebounds.
-Martyna Pioro scored a career-high 15 points off the bench marking the fifth time she's been in double figures this season. Pioro went 6-of-9 from the floor including 3-of-5 beyond the arc in 18 minutes.
-Jenna Falkenberg finished with 10 points and four rebounds but had four fouls and was limited to 23 minutes.
-Amanda Merz recorded 13 points, six rebounds and six assists. She also had three steals and played 37 minutes.
-Wilkerson scored 11 points and dished out a season-high four assists.
-DU recorded 13 steals and scored 32 points off 20 Laker turnovers.

UP NEXT
-The Panthers will host Ferris State for the first time on Saturday, Jan. 6 at 1 p.m. inside the DU Student Center.