Gophers Roll to 72-Point Victory Over Valley Forge

TOWSON, Md. — Goucher got its season off to the best possible start, scoring the first 32 points of today's contest against Valley Forge and coming up three points short of the century mark in a dominant 97-25 victory over the Patriots.

Six different players scored in double figures for the Gophers, led by a career-high 24 points from Olivia Nono (Silver Spring, Md./Montgomery Blair). Briana Bull (Baltimore, Md./Owings Mills), meanwhile, flirted with a quadruple-double in her collegiate debut, finishing with 13 points, 10 rebounds, nine assists and seven steals.

Today's point output was the highest in a game for the program since a 103-75 victory over Delaware Valley during the 2003-04 season, and the 72-point margin of victory was the largest since Goucher handed Lincoln a 109-29 setback to begin the 1993-94 campaign.

Nono had 10 points in the 32-0 run to begin the game, as the Gophers held Valley Forge off the scoreboard until Mikala Brinson sank a free throw with 7:49 left in the first half. The Patriots managed only 10 field goal attempts during those opening 12 minutes of play, as a tenacious Goucher defense forced 13 turnovers early on.

Valley Forge would eventually give the ball away 33 times, with the Gophers scoring 53 points off those turnovers. Goucher also held a 36-2 advantage in fast break points for the game.

The Gophers converted on 44 of 77 field goal attempts, a 57.1 percent success rate which is one of the highest in program history. Nono played a key role in that percentage, hitting 12 of 16 shots from the field. She also added seven rebounds and a pair of blocks.

Joyce Woolen (Trumbull, Conn./Trumbull) followed Nono with a 15-point performance, hitting 7 of 9 attempts from the floor. India Perkins (Brentwood, Md./Bladensburg) chipped in 14 points and seven rebounds, while Jaida Scarborough (Baltimore, Md./Digital Harbor) and Dominique White (Lubbock, Texas/Potomac Falls) rounded out the double-digit scorers with 11 and 10 points, respectively. Scarborough totaled seven assists as well, and the Goucher finished the game with assists on 29 of its 44 made baskets.

The Gophers started the season off with a victory for the first time since defeating Trinity (D.C.) to begin 2008-09. They will look to move to 2-0 this Thursday with a 7 p.m. road contest at Notre Dame (Md.).