ST. LOUIS, Mo. – The Webster University women's basketball team kicked off their season this evening when they played host the Belhaven (Miss.) University Blazers in their first game of the 2023 Webster Classic. The Gorloks defeated the Blazers by a final score of 81-53 to improve to 1-0 on the season. The loss drops the Blazers to 0-1 on the year.

Webster went 28-for-68 (41.2%) from the floor and 2-for-16 (12.5%) from behind the arc. They were outrebounded by the Blazers by a final count of 48-37 and pulled down 12 offensive boards. Webster forced Belhaven to turn the ball over 50 times in the game and turned those turnovers into 52 points on the other end of the floor. The Gorloks turned the ball over 26 times themselves while dishing out 13 assists.

The Gorloks came out in the first quarter of the game and jumped out to a 10-5 lead early. They continued to play tough defense as the quarter progressed and grew their lead to 18-11 heading into the second. The Blazers cut the lead to five to start the second, but a 9-0 run from Webster put them up 27-13 with seven minutes to play in the half. Webster would push their lead to as many as 24 in the half and would take a 43-19 lead into the locker room.

The Gorloks carried over their momentum into the second half and opened the third quarter on a 15-0 run to take a 58-19 lead in the game. They never led the Blazers back into the quarter and would take a 42-point lead in the fourth. Belhaven would battle back in the fourth and cut the lead to 28, but that was as close as they would get as the Gorloks cruised to their first win of the season.

Julie Baudendistel led the way offensively for Webster as she scored a game high 17 points. Kate Rolfes and Jordyn Grimes also played well as Rolfes finished with 13 points while Grimes had 11. Bethany Lancaster led the team with seven rebounds while Nysa Gilchrist dished out three assists. Rolfes led the team with eight steals while Grimes and Lancaster each recorded six.

Webster returns to the court tomorrow, November 11^th, when they take on Anderson (Ind.) University for the 2023 Webster Classic Championship. The game is set to start at 3 p.m. in Grant Gymnasium.