DeLand, Fla. – After leading by just two points at halftime, Stetson used a 54-point second half surge to defeat Valparaiso 87-75 Saturday night at the Edmunds Center.
Brittney Chambers hit four 3-pointers and scored 16 points after the break as the Hatters (2-0) won for the second time in as many days.
"I felt like we finally got our offense going," Stetson head coach Lynn Bria said about the second-half run. "We were hitting shots. We turned them over a little bit. I thought our energy was good to start the second half."
Sarah Sagerer tied a school single-game record with eight blocked shots, to go along with 11 points and 15 rebounds. She now has 13 blocked shots in her first two games of the season.
"I thought Sarah Sagerer was just awesome on both ends," Bria said. "She was great offensively for us, she rebounded the ball, and just her help on the block shots (was critical). I just think she saved us on a lot of plays where they would have had a lay-up."
Chambers finished 20 points, as did Brianti Saunders. Saunders hit three 3-pointers and added five assists to her stat line. Kennedi Colclough scored 15 points (13 in the second half), and Breana Bey tallied a double-double of 14 points and 10 rebounds.
Dani Franklin led the Crusaders (0-1) with 34 points on 12-of-19 shooting.
Stetson pulled down 45 rebounds in the game, including 22 on the offensive glass. Several of those offensive boards turned into second chance points to help the Hatters maintain their second-half lead.
"Probably the thing I am most proud of is that we responded to their runs," Bria said. "We could have tanked it, folded or laid down and died, but we didn't. I was really proud how they came together, hung in there and just kept playing. It was really, really good."
Stetson will host Bethune-Cookman at 7 p.m. Wednesday.
Notes:
Brianti Saunders played in her 100th career game … Stetson has won 59 consecutive games when scoring 74 points or more … Sagerer and Bey each recorded their fifth career double-doubles. Sagerer narrowly missed a triple by two blocks. She is the fourth Hatter player to record eight blocks in a game.
