Pride dominate season opener to 95-55 win at St. Ambrose
DAVENPORT, Iowa - Beginning the 2023-24 season on the road against a familiar non-conference foe, the Clarke University women's basketball team controlled from start to finish in a 95-55 victory over St. Ambrose University on Wednesday night.
"Great team win to get the season started," head coach Adam Hocking said. "I'm proud of the effort on both ends fo the floor tonight"
The Pride won every quarter on their way to the 40-point margin of victory as they were led by a game-high 22 points from Mya Merschman as the forward was on fire in the first half, scoring 18 of her 22 in the opening 20 minutes going 6-of-7 from the field and 4-for-5 from three-point range.
Merschman's strong first half was spelled by an 11-point performance from Taylor Norris in the second half as the transfer guard finished with 15 in her first game in the navy and gold on 5-of-10 shooting from the field while going 3-of-6 from deep off the bench.
Another newcomer to the Clarke roster was fellow transfer Maci Kuchta as the senior got the start at point guard to finish her CU debut with 20 points on 7-of-11 shooting while adding four rebounds and three assists on the night.
Nicole McDermott, Taylor Haase, and Izzie Peterson rounded out the starting five with Merschman and Kuchta as the trio combined for 25 of the team's 95 points with Haase scoring 11 batting through early foul trouble, Peterson adding four points on a pair of first quarter buckets, and McDermott finishing with a quiet 10 points while adding a game-high 12 rebounds for a double-double.
The rebounding margin was significant for the Pride as they finished with 53 rebounds as a team compared to just 29 for the Fighting Bees as SAU shot 29 percent from the field, allowing for the high rebounding opportunities for Clarke with Haase adding seven and Jorja Hanselman grabbing eight off the bench to spell Haase in the post.
"We played very unselfish team basketball out there with 17 assists on 37 made baskets to go along with our plus-24 rebounding margin," Hocking said.
Shooting percentages favored Clarke as they finished 37-for-70 (52.9%) from the field and 11-of-23 (47.8%) from three to get above the 90-point threshold leading off the season after only doing so four times last season.
Hocking secures the first win in his tenure as head coach for Pride women's basketball after serving as the team's primary assistant coach for the past eight seasons.
Clarke will be back to action in a week when they open their home schedule in the Kehl Center on Nov. 8 as they play host to Governors State University for a 5:30 p.m. CT tip in a non-conference doubleheader with men's basketball playing host to St. Ambrose at 7:30.