LOUISVILLE, Ky. – The Webster University women's basketball team opened up conference play tonight with a road game in Louisville, Kentucky, against the Spalding (Ky.) University Golden Eagles. The Gorloks defeated the Golden Eagles by a final score of 71-54 to improve to 11-1 on the season and 1-0 in SLIAC play. With the loss, Spalding falls to 3-9 on the year and 0-1 in the conference.

The Gorloks went 29-for-75 (38.7%) from the floor and 4-for-13 (30.8%) from behind the arc. They were outrebounded by the Golden Eagles by a final count of 47-41 and pulled down 15 offensive boards. Webster forced them to turn the ball over 35 times in the game and turned those turnovers into 30 points on the other end of the floor. The Gorloks also dished out 13 assists in the contest.

Webster came out in the first quarter and jumped out to an 8-3 lead in the fist six minutes of the contest. The Golden Eagles battled back and cut the lead to two late in the period, but a basket from Jordyn Grimes at the end of the quarter put them up 15-11 heading into the second. They played tough defense to start the second and went on an 11-0 run to start the period to take a 26-11 lead. They pushed their lead to as many as 17 in the quarter, but a 5-0 run from Spalding to end the half cut the Gorloks lead to 37-25 at the break.

The Golden Eagles carried their momentum into the third quarter and cut Webster's lead to nine in the first five minutes of the half. The Gorloks quickly extended their lead back out to 13 late in the frame and would take a 52-41 lead into the fourth. Webster started the final quarter on a 7-0 run to extend their lead to 18 and held off the Golden Eagles down the stretch to solidify their eighth straight win.

Kate Rolfes led the way for Webster as she finished with a team high 16 points while grabbing six rebounds. Emily Wilson and Jordyn Grimes also finished in double figures as Wilson had 12 points while Grimes added 10. Bethany Lancaster led the way on the boards as she pulled down a team high nine rebounds while scoring eight points.

The Gorloks will return to the court on Saturday, January 7^th when they host the Fontbonne (Mo.) University Griffins for a SLIAC matchup. The game is set to start at 1 p.m. in Grant Gymnasium.