DELAND, Fla. – After a long offseason Stetson Women's basketball was back on the court and got in control of the game with Flagler early and cruised to a 79-52 finish Monday night in the Edmunds Center.

"We have to learn to keep up the intensity through the whole game and we didn't do that in the second half," head coach Lynn Bria said "We just started to make some mistakes, had some different combinations in there. We quit scoring and had some bunnies we missed. I don't think we played awful, we just didn't match our energy."

The Hats got off to a hat start as they shot 11-of-14 for the first quarter, draining every field goal inside the arc. The defense locked up the other end as the Saints made three shots from the floor in the first frame but found six points from the charity stripe.

After 29 points in the first quarter from 78.6 percent shooting, SU fell back to Earth, but still managed to add 21 to their total for a 50-23 advantage going into the locker room.
Stetson held the visitors at bay with each side scoring 29 in the second half to bring the final of 79-52.

"Jordan Peete is doing really well playing the point," Bria continued "Alyssa Hargrove is one of our best players with Kiya Turner. Jaelyn [Talley], our freshman in the post, was really effective. She didn't look like a freshman and I think she's going to get better and better. That's a solid four right there and I thought Skylar Treadwell did really well, I didn' know who I was going to start in that spot, but she grabbed seven rebounds, she can hit the three and has great size. It could change depending on who we play and with match-ups, but I feel like we have a good-solid five and we got a few players not dressed that will help us as well."

In her first game wearing a Stetson uniform, junior Jordan Peete paced the squad in scoring with 18. Skylar Treadwell [10], Jaelyn Talley [13] and Alyssa Hargrove [10] joined her in double figures with Kiya Turner picking up nine points. Treadwell collected the most rebounds with seven. The team turned over Flagler 28 times and recorded 19 assists on 27 made field goals. All four dressed bench players saw time on the court, 14 minutes at minimum, with each player notching at least a point. The Hatters grabbed 13 steals to two.

"We have to show maturity and learn to play through some fatigue," Bria said about the message going forward "once we get tired, that's when we're seeing a drop in the execution. I think we have to learn to play through some fatigue, but I thought we played hard for 40 minutes, we just need to execute better."

The Hatters now take to the road headed South down I-95 to face the Miami Hurricanes at Coral Gables. That game is scheduled for Thursday morning with an 11 a.m. tip. As of this publication, no changes to the schedule have been made, but Tropical Storm Nicole is being monitored.
 
About Stetson University Athletics: Stetson University's Athletics Program is driven by a shared purpose. It is what inspires, motivates and binds us together. More than a task, a reason for being. THE HATTER PURPOSE is to create and provide an experience of a lifetime through teamwork and relationships to achieve excellence. This purpose is achieved through five Core Values: Communication, Integrity, Excellence, Value People and Commitment. To learn more about the HATS program and our Core Values, visit GoHatters.com/HATS (PDF). Get in on the conversation on social media by following Stetson Athletics on  Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. For video content, visit our YouTube channels: Stetson Hatters, Stetson Athletics and, for live events, Hatter Vision.