MEMPHIS, Tenn. – The Rhodes women's basketball team opened the Southern Athletic Association portion of its season with a 74-60 win on Wednesday night over the Hendrix College Warriors.
 
The Lynx are improve to 5-1 and open league play with a 1-0 record, while the Warriors are fall to 2-4 and 0-1 in conference play.
 
Coach Dean's squad came out strong in the contest, opening play with a quick 7-0 run with a three from Dy'Nelle Todman and a pair of buckets from Bailey Kramer and Symone Daniels to make the early score 7-0 with 18:46 to play. The Lynx saw their lead diminish as Hendrix worked to tie the contest at the 15:14 mark after a pair of Sara Dyslin free throws made the score 9-9.
 
After the two squads traded leads, Rhodes reestablished its dominance, pulling out to a nine point lead with 7:15 to play, after an 11-0 run. After a Daniels lay-in the Lynx saw their largest lead of the day, with 4:42 to play. The Warriors worked to whittle down their deficit, and pulled to within three at the 1:43 mark after a three from Caitlyn Kriesel-Bigler, at 34-31. The teams traded buckets, and the Lynx headed into the half with the 36-33 lead.
 
In the opening half Dyslin led all scorers with an early 16 points for the Warriors. Kriesel-Bigler added six to the Hendrix totals. Daniels led the Lynx with 14 points and three steals at the break, with Todman and Blaire Smith each chipping in seven.
 
Rhodes shot 41.9 percent from the field in the first half, while the Warriors posted 52.0 percent shooting. The stifling Lynx defense forced nine turnovers in the first half, with five steals.
 
In the second half, the Lynx saw their lead quickly diminish, as Hendrix tied the contest twice in the opening two minutes. After a pair of Kriesel-Bigler free-throws, the Lynx trailed by five with 16:05 to play. But after a 12-2 run, capped with a pair of Daniels free-throws, the Lynx reclaimed the 47-56 lead with 8:32 to play.
 
Rhodes held on, building on their lead, and after a Kramer jumper at the 4:39 mark, the Lynx advantage pushed to 67-53. The Lynx defense held on to the 14 point lead, and finished out the contest with a 74-60 win.
 
Rhodes was led by Daniels who tallied 18 points for the Lynx, with five rebounds and four steals. Johnson chipped in 13 points, with seven assists and five steals on the night. Kramer posted 12 points and Todman added 10.
 
Dyslin led Hendrix with 18 points and 12 rebounds for a double-double, with Kriesel-Bigler finished with 14 points for the Warriors.
 
Rhodes shot 38.7 percent from the field in the contest, with an 85.2 free-throw percentage. The Warriors boasted a 50.0 percent shooting contest, with 27.3 from beyond the arc. Rhodes forced an impressive 21 turnovers out of the warriors, which they turned into 21 points.
 
The Lynx will be back in action on Dec. 9 when they host Centenary College at 1 p.m.