Upper Iowa has won their season opener for the fourth year in a row, this year defeating the Graceland Yellowjackets 89-54.
The Peacocks were firing on all cylinders to start the game with graduate guard
Katie Tornstrom making three straight three pointer's, giving the Peacocks an early lead. Tornstrom led the scoring in the first half, shooting 5-11 from the field and 4-8 from three-point range scoring 15 points. Junior guard
Mia Huberty also scored double figures in the first half, shooting 5-10 from the field, and 1-3 from three-point range scoring 12 points. Junior forward
Helen Staley had a perfect shooting outing in the first half making all four of her shots, while tying for the team-high in rebounds with six. Senior forward
Kayla Bohr also recorded six rebounds in the first half off her Peacocks debut, three of those coming on the offensive end. Senior guard
Alaina Brenning had a solid all-around performance in the first half, scoring six points, rebounding four missed shots, and dishing out three assists. After an evenly matched first quarter, Upper Iowa outscored the Yellowjackets by 11 points in the second quarter, and went into the half with a 45-28 lead.
The dominance would only continue for Upper Iowa as they outscored Graceland 22-11 in the third quarter and 22-15 in the fourth. Tornstrom scored a game-high 22 points on 8-17 shooting while going 5-11 from three-point range. She was just as active on the defensive end, as she recorded four rebounds and a team-high three steals. Huberty finished with 18 points on 8-17 shooting, putting together a very aggressive performance that saw her draw seven fouls. Graduate guard
Brooke Evenson rounded out the Peacocks double-digit scorers, scoring ten of her 12 points in the second half. Evenson shot 5-10 from the field and 2-3 from three-point range while also recording three rebounds and two steals.
Staley and Brenning nearly recorded double-doubles as Staley had a team-high 12 rebounds while scoring eight points and Brenning added eight points of her own while putting up a sensational stat line of a team-high eight assists without committing a single turnover. Senior center
Cassidy Pagel and freshman guard
Ava Privet both made very positive impacts off the bench in the second half. Pagel shot 3-5 while drawing two and-1's and recording four rebounds. Privet's first shot of her career was a made three-pointer, which she later followed up with another made three, shooting 2-2 on the day and recording six points.
Upper Iowa will be playing back-to-back road games next week as they face Oklahoma Christian on Friday, Nov. 17 at 5:30 p.m. before competing against Newman on Saturday, Nov. 18 at a time that is to be determined.
