GREENVILLE, Ill. – Playing for the first time in 354 days, Webster University opened its women's basketball season here Wednesday evening by suffering a hard-fought 71-66 setback to Greenville University in St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference action at H.J. Long Gymnasium on the Greenville campus.
 
Despite the loss, Webster put four players score in double figures in Wednesday's season opener as sophomore forward Julie Baudendistel (St. Louis, Mo./Lindbergh) paced the Gorloks with 21 points, while junior forward Addison Beussink (Jackson, Mo./Saxony Lutheran) added a double-double of 19 points and 12 rebounds. Senior guard Naomi Johnson (St. Louis, Mo./Greenville University) and junior guard Hannah Cottrell (Steelville, Mo./Steelville) tallied 11 and 10 points respectively.
 
In Wednesday's game, which was the first for the Gorloks since facing DePauw University in the first round of the 2020 NCAA Tournament on March 8, 2020, Webster showed some rust in the first half as the Gorloks trailed by as much as 17 points late in the second quarter, before rallying to outscore the Panthers, 17-7 in the third quarter to trail 46-45 heading to the final period.

"Playing a team that has been playing for two months and had played 8-9 games was a huge disadvantage for us," said Webster head coach Jordan Olufson. "We will use this game to grow and get better. I liked that we had some dawg in us to come back and take a late lead, but we just have to take better shots and make better decisions in the end. All is up from here."
 
Webster (0-1, 0-1 SLIAC) opened the fourth quarter by scoring the first four points to take a 49-46 lead. The lead, though would evaporate quickly as the Panthers used a 15-6 run that was keyed by three 3-pointer from Emily Reinneck to push her team's lead to 61-55 with 5:09 left in the game.
 
The Gorloks, though would respond by scoring seven consecutive points to take a 62-61 lead. The run was capped by a trey from Johnson with 3:37 remaining. On GU's ensuing possession, Ashley Anderson scored a basket to help GU retake the lead at 63-62. Johnson would then give WU another lead at 64-63 following her lay-up with 2:32 remaining.
 
After two free throws by Madelyn Stephen gave GU a 65-64 lead, Baudendistel gave the Gorloks its final lead of the game at 66-65 on her basket with 1:18 remaining. Anderson would hit a lay-up with 48 seconds left to help GU retake the lead at 67-66.
 
On Webster's ensuing possession, Baudendistel misfired on a 3-pointer with 15 seconds left and on GU's trip up the court, junior guard Lauryn Freeman (Fort Worth, Texas/Timber Creek) was called for an intentional foul with 15 seconds left on Reinneck and Reinneck would hit then hit four straight free throws to cap the scoring as give the Panthers the victory.
 
Webster's second half rally was keyed a combined 32 points from Baudendistel, Beussink and Johnson as Baudendistel had 16 points, while Beussink added nine points and eight boards and Johnson tallied seven points. In fact, Johnson and Baudendistel combined to score 16 of Webster's 21 fourth quarter points.
 
Trailing 39-28 at the half, the Gorloks defensive intensity picked up in the third quarter as Webster forced 10 turnovers and scored 17 of the first 20 points in the period to take a 45-41 lead with 4:40 left. In fact, after GU scored the first basket of the quarter on a lay-up by Emily Reinneck, the Gorloks scored 17 consecutive points to retake the lead.
 
Following Webster's run, the Panthers would answer back by scoring the next five points to take a 46-45 lead following a lay-up by Amanda Brooks with 28 seconds left in the quarter. In the third quarter, WU outscored the Panthers, 17-7.
 
In fact, the Gorloks finished the game forcing Greenville into 18 turnovers and those 18 turnovers led to 22 points for the Gorloks, including forcing 13 turnovers and scoring 15 points off those miscues after halftime.
 
It appeared early on in Wednesday's game that Webster wouldn't have any trouble with the Panthers as they jumped out to a 5-0 lead in the opening 22 seconds thanks to a lay-up and a free throw to complete a 3-point play from Beussink and a lay-up following a steal by Cottrell.
 
But that lead would be short-lived as GU scored five consecutive points to tie the game at 5 and the game would stay close for the first five minutes of the quarter, until Greenville closed the period on a 10-0 run to turn a 16-11 deficit into a 21-16 lead.
 
The Panthers opened the second quarter by scoring 14 of the first 17 points to push its lead 35-19 with 3:46 left in the period. After Cottrell hit two free throws to cut GU's lead to 35-21, the Panthers would use a 4-1 run to push out to a 39-22 advantage with 2:26 left in the half.
 
Webster, though, would respond as they closed the quarter on a 6-0 run to cut Greenville's lead to 39-28 at the half. The run began with a lay-up from junior guard Amaya Baker (McDonough, Ga./Union Grove) and was capped by back-to-back baskets from Beussink.
 
Reinneck paced Greenville (3-6, 0-1 SLIAC) with a game-high 26 points and added 10 rebounds. In addition to Reinneck's double-double, Stephen added 10 points and Anderson chipped in with nine points and seven rebounds.
 
Webster finished the night shooting 46 percent from the field and 26 percent from the 3-point line, while Greenville shot 48 percent from the field and 35 percent from long distance.
 
The Gorloks were outrebounded, 33-32 and dished out 20 assists, including seven assists from Cottell and had 12 steals. The Panthers had 22 assists as Lauren Eagleson recorded nine assists in the win.
 
Webster struggled at the free throw line as they went 7-for-12 (58 percent) from the charity stripe, while Greenville was 13-for-17, including going 9-for-11 at line in the second half.
 
The Gorloks will return to action next Wednesday, March 3 as they open the home portion of its schedule with a 5:30 p.m. game at Grant Gymnasium against Spalding University. Per SLIAC rules this season, no fans will be allowed at indoor sporting events in the league this season.