ANNANDALE-ON-HUDSON, N.Y. – The Bard College women's basketball team defeated the Elms Blazers in the Raptors' home opener and Fan Appreciation night, 58-48, on Wednesday evening. They outscored the Blazers 24-13 in the fourth quarter to finish with a double-digit margin of victory.

Ava Gregory had a breakout game, scoring a career-high 17 points on 5-of-9 shooting, including 3-of-5 from deep. Gregory was in the starting lineup for the first time in her career and was a valuable guard, adding four rebounds, three assists, and two steals. Erin Tobes recorded her first career double-double with 15 points and 10 rebounds, adding a game-high five assists and four steals. 

Shirley Dong was all over the court tonight, contributing in all aspects of the game with seven points, seven rebounds, four assists, two steals, and a block. Lexi Miller had a team-high two blocks, adding eight rebounds, six points, and an assist. Morgan Kottka had six points, going 3-of-6 from two-point range, adding two rebounds and a block. Aislynn Dixon chipped in three points, four rebounds, two assists, and a steal. Tianna Gonzalez had four points, two steals, and four rebounds, while Jessica Martin provided a rebound in 11 minutes of action. 

Elms jumped out to an 8-0 lead in the first 2:49 of play. However, Bard stormed back, using lockdown defense throughout the next eight minutes to go on a 15-0 run that extended to the beginning of the second. Tobes ran the offense well, accumulating three assists on backdoor cuts and sharp off-ball actions. The Raptors hit two threes in the frame while preventing the Blazers from hitting any of their nine attempts. Elms attacked the paint in the second quarter, leading to 10 of their 12 points being scored inside.

Bard had a 22-20 edge heading into halftime, and after Kottka and Miller scored buckets in the first 2:21 of second half action, the lead stood at six, 26-20. However, the Blazers scored the final five points of the third quarter and went up by one, 35-34. In the fourth quarter, Elms extended the advantage to five at 40-35 with 7:08 remaining, but the Raptors turned on the gas from that point on. Miller got position in the lane for a layup, followed by a massive three-pointer from Gregory to tie the game at 40-40.

At 5:56, a Blazer banked home a layup to make it 42-40, but the Bard defense stepped up, holding Elms without a made field goal until there were 26 seconds remaining. The Raptors extended their lead 46-43, but the Blazers were able to tie the game up 46-46 with 2 minutes left in the game. Coach Alaina Walker calls a timeout and drew up a play that nailed the dagger to Elms, as Dong drains the three to go up 49-46 with 1:48 left. A forced turnover and steal by Dixon led to Tobes' going on the line and making both free throws. 

With less than a minute, it was a fouling-free throw game, and Bard did not let up as they went 7-of-10 in the last minute of the game. In the quarter alone, the Raptors made 11-of-16 free throws in the quarter to salt away the game.

The Raptors will host MCLA on Monday at 7 p.m.