NEWTON, Mass.—The Fighting Scots rung in the Carter Shaw era with an impressive offensive outburst, beating Mount Ida 85-82 in the season premiere for both squads. Gordon received an eye-popping 23 points from freshman guard Meghan Foley (Malden, Mass.) and won the seesaw battle late to preserve their first season-opening win on the road in over a decade.

Mustang freshman Alisa Benson (Middletown, R.I.) was one of five Mount Ida College players in double-figures, scoring 18 points in her collegiate debut. Benson stuffed the stat sheet with nine rebounds and four assists, and senior Angelique Martinez (Taunton, Mass.) began her final year with a double-double, logging 19 rebounds and 10 points, along with three blocks.

Jamie Tafoya's (Fort Collins, Colo.) layup tied the game at 80 with 2:34 left to play, and Tafoya scored four of the final five points for the Scots and ended the night with 14 points as Gordon improved to 1-0.

Foley led all players with her 23 points and the visitors opened up their largest lead of the game at 66-53 late in the third quarter, but the Mustangs came surging back. They ended the quarter on a 10-0 run, sparked by a three-pointer by Benson and a three-point play by Katlyn Jesse (Marshfield, Mass.), who had 12 points in the loss.

Junior Trish Liotta (Hampton Bays, N.Y.) added 16 points and her three-pointer to start the fourth quarter tied the game at 66, with a layup by Martinez putting the Mustangs back in front.

The lead built to as much as five points at 71-66, but back to back buckets by Sophie Linnell (Richmond, Va.) kept the visitors trailing by just a point.

They took the lead on a jump shot by Alisha Henderson (Oregon City, Ore.), who had 11 points and three assists, and a Brittany Crosby (Riverside, R.I.) layup with 2:46 left gave Mount Ida the last lead they would have, at 80-78.
Crosby netted 14 points and had seven rebounds, while junior Breanna Muir (Wareham, Mass.) was also in double-digits with 12 points and five caroms.

Brooke Dyson (Houston, Texas) added 16 points in the win for the visitors, while Olivia Stark (Arvada, Colo.) led all players with eight assists.

Next up, Mount Ida College (0-1) will host the Mustang Classic, a four-team tip-off tournament with games this Saturday and Sunday. The Mustangs will host Bay Path College on Saturday at 7:00 pm in the opening day's nightcap.

Gordon hosts their own classic this weekend, starting with a home game against Fisher College on Friday at 7:00 PM.

Release courtesy of Mount Ida

Quick Hits:

• The Fighting Scots are now 4-1 in their last five season openers.
• Gordon is now 3-3 all-time in the series, earning victories in back-to-back seasons against the Mustangs.
• The Fighting Scots scored over 60 points in a game for the first time since their matchup with Mount Ida in the second game of last season. Gordon began the year with its two highest scoring performances.
• Gordon's 85 points were its most since the Scots beat Curry 90-62 in January of 2010.