HANOVER, Ind. – The women's basketball team opened its season on Friday night at Hanover College against a quality opponent and hung tough before falling 76-66. The shining star for the Bulldogs was junior Amy Van Gessel who pumped in a career-high 21 points. She finished 7-of-11 from the field and 7-of-9 at the free throw line.

Adrian trailed 40-30 at intermission as the hosts shot 43.3 percent in the first half. Hanover scored the first four points in the second half to take a 14-point lead. The Bulldogs responded with a 9-1 run to cut the lead down to 45-39 after a triple by junior LaQwana Dockery. Hanover met the challenge and responded themselves by going on an 8-2 run to put the lead back into double figures at 53-41 with 13:33 left in the game.

The Bulldogs cut the lead down to eight points on four different occasions, but could not get any closer down the final 10 minutes. Adrian finished the game shooting 36.4 percent (24-of-66) but did well at the free throw line going 16-of-21 (76.2 percent). Sophomore Raven Anderson scored 12 points off the bench in her first game with the program. Senior Jasmine Byers added 11 points, six rebounds and four steals in 27 minutes.