WAVERLY, Iowa – No. 2 women's basketball opened the 2024-25 season at home in the Wartburg Tipoff Tournament with a 60-46 win over Westminster College on Friday, Nov. 8.
Game Summary
- First Half
- First Quarter
- Jaedon Murphy scored the first points of the Knights' season when Maggie Wilkins found her open for a three pointer to tie the game at 3-3 early on
- Following two free throws from Lauren Woeste, Grace Hennessy buried a three pointer from the corner with an assist from Finley Fitzgerald to put Wartburg ahead 8-3 with 6:30 remaining in the first
- Westminster tied the game at 10 in the final minutes of the quarter, but Jenna Saunders made a three to put the Knights up three before the Blue Jays closed the quarter on a 5-0 run to make it 15-13 after one quarter
- Second Quarter
- Wartburg retook the lead in the first minute of the second quarter after a basket from Laruen Woeste and free throws from Lauren Golinghorst
- After scores from Hennessy and Woeste, the game was tied 22-22 with 5:40 left in the half
- Murphy made back-to-back layups for the Knights and Sara Faber tacked on a free throw to keep Wartburg in front 27-25, but Westminster closed the quarter with four straight points to take a 29-27 lead into half
- Second Half
- Third Quarter
- The Knights opened the half on a 5-0 run after a three from Faber and a layup from Woeste
- Faber and Woeste continued to extend the lead to 38-31 with 6:02 left to go in the third
- The lead was stretched to 10 after baskets from Hennessy, Golinghorst and Murphy and Wartburg led 44-33 after three quarters
- Fourth Quarter
- Following an early score from the Blue Jays, Wartburg went on an 8-0 run following a jumper from Faber and three pointers from Murphy and Saunders
- Faber scored the next four points for Wartburg to bring the lead to 14 with 2:33 left to play
- Woeste made the final bucket for the Knights as they closed out a 60-46 home victory
Top Performers
- Jaedon Murphy
- 14 points – 5/12 FG, 2/7 3P
- Nine rebounds
- Six blocks
- One steal and one assist
- Lauren Woeste
- 12 points – 5-8 FG, 2/2 FT
- 10 rebounds
- One assist, one block and one steal
- Sara Faber
- 14 points – 4/13, 1/7 3P and 5/6 FT
- Seven rebounds
- Four steals, three assists and two blocks
Notes/Streaks
- Second career double double for Woeste
- Six blocks in a game is a career-high for Murphy
- Murphy is now at 125 career blocks, which is second all-time at Wartburg
- Team shooting:
- Wartburg: 35.7% FG, 20.7% 3P and 87.5% FT
- Westminster: 27.4% FG, 23.5% 3P and 72.7%
- Wartburg had a 12-0 advantage in bench points
- Westminster's Annette Ramirez scored 35 of the Blue Jays' 46 points
- Faber and Wilkins led the team in assists with three each
Next Time Out
The Knights continue the Wartburg Tipoff Tournament on Saturday, Nov. 9 against Greenville University at 3 p.m.