Box Score Box Score

THE RUNDOWN
AUSTIN, Texas – The St. Edward's University women's basketball team opened up its home schedule Tuesday with a 68-50 victory over Southwestern inside the Recreation and Convocation Center thanks to 22-combined points from Abby Hopper and Isabel Hernandez.

The Hilltoppers (2-1) opened the game on an 11-0 run and never looked back. Hopper started the scoring with a layup 45 seconds into the game and added two more to make it 9-0 just one minute later.

Southwestern (0-0), in its final exhibition of the preseason, outscored SEU, 18-16, in the second quarter, but Hopper and Hernandez teamed up for 10-combined points to give St. Edward's a 37-27 halftime lead.

In the second half, Hernandez added six more points to her total while Bailey Hill and Saundra Guillory scored five points each as SEU cruised to victory.
HIGHLIGHTS

• Hernandez scored a career-high 11 points in her first double-digit game as a Hilltopper.
• Hopper added 11 points in her first double-digit scoring game of the season and 14th of her career.
• Hopper's last game in double digits was March 2, 2017 against Texas A&M-International in the Heartland Conference Tournament.
• Abigail Whyte grabbed a career-best and game-high eight rebounds.
• Brooke Panfili scored a personal-best nine points in just the third game of her career.
• Haley Joly recorded four steals for the second time this season.
• Joly leads the Heartland Conference in steals, averaging 3.6 per game.
• St. Edward's has won its last five matchups against Southwestern.
• The Hilltoppers are 10-8 in the all-time series with the Pirates.
• SEU's last 2-1 start came in the 2015-16 season when it advanced to the Heartland Conference Tournament championship game.
• Head Coach J.J. Riehl's career record is 81-62 in six seasons at St. Edward's.
• Riehl is now 5-1 in home openers in her career.

STAT OF THE GAME I
25 – St. Edward's out scored Southwestern off turnovers 25-7 in Tuesday's game.

STAT OF THE GAME II
12 – The Hilltoppers recorded 12 steals compared to the Pirates' five.

TOP QUOTE
Head Coach J.J. Riehl on the win…
"I think there are positives and I think there are areas for growth. A positive is us finding our game out in transition. We were a little more aggressive in the open floor, and I think this team differs from last year's team in that sense so we need to get out and push the ball. Defense is still a huge strength of ours. We just have to keep getting better at the things we can get better at, and focus on keeping teams at a low shooting percentage and dominating the glass."

Junior forward Isabel Hernandez on scoring double digits with her parents in attendance…
"It meant a lot. I haven't seen my mom for three months so I was pretty nervous, but I'm very happy they're here. They're going to stay for the next two games so hopefully we'll get two more wins."

WHAT'S NEXT
The Hilltoppers host Texas A&M-Commerce Saturday at 2 p.m. inside the Recreation and Convocation Center. Live stats and video will be available at GoHilltoppers.com. The team will also have its presentation of the 2016-17 Heartland Conference Championship rings before the game.

Follow St. Edward's Women's Basketball all season long on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram using the handle @SEUWBasketball