COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (Nov. 25, 2022) - The Buena Vista women's basketball team led by two at the half before outscoring Sarah Lawrence 42-24 over the final 20 minutes en route to a 75-55 victory in the first game of the Rocky Mountain Thanksgiving Classic on Friday, hosted by Colorado College.

BVU got a balanced offensive effort as Lindsey Anhalt turned in a team-high 11 points while Addison Weber and McKenna Cone each adding 10. Weber also hauled in four rebounds, dished out four assists and posted three steals. Vanessa Hamlett just missed out on double-digits with nine points, and Danika Demers chimed in with seven points and was one off a career-best with eight assists.

The Beavers shot 40 percent from the field, including seven makes from downtown, while also converting 16-of-21 free-throw attempts. Defensively, the team out-rebounded the Gryphons, 47-34 and forced 25 turnovers.

It was back-and-forth for most of the first half. BVU held a 23-16 advantage after one quarter, and then got a bucket and free-throw to close out the first half from Hamlett which gave BVU a 33-31 lead at the break. The Beavers then pulled away with a big third quarter in which it outscored the Gryphons, 25-10, and lead 58-41. It led by as many as 63-42 early in the fourth quarter en route to its largest victory of the season.

Sarah Lawrence, which is located in the Bronx, N.Y., was led by Kumi Tamara's 17 points.

Buena Vista has now won three straight games overall and improves to 4-2 on the year. The team will wrap up the Classic by taking on the host Tigers on Saturday at 3 p.m.