Jacksonville, Florida-In front of a raucous crowd of over 2,000 elementary and middle school children, the Edward Waters women's basketball squad ran away with an 81-50 home victory over the University of Fort Lauderdale in the season and home opener on Monday morning at the Adams-Jenkins Community Sports & Music Complex. 

Edward Waters (1-0) had to overcome a slow start in the contest that saw them trail UFTL (0-2) 8-5 at the midway point of the first quarter. The Lady Tigers were able to pick things up to take a 16-14 lead at the end of the quarter. The Purple & Orange turned up the intensity in the second quarter, outscoring the Eagles, 25-12 to take a 41-26 lead at the half.

The second half of the contest saw Edward Waters outscore UFTL by a dominant 23-8 margin in the third quarter and were able to ride that momentum into a comfortable 31-point victory at home.

The Lady Tigers shot 42.5% from the floor on 31-73 and held Fort Lauderdale to 16-57 shooting and a 28.1% game. EWU also outshot the Eagles 36.0% to 18.8% and enjoyed a 51-37 advantage on the boards including a 21-15 advantage in offensive rebounding. Senior guard/forward Molly Ragle led all scorers with 20 points on 8-of-14 shooting and was 3-of-7 from three point range. Junior guard Isis Smith was EWU's other player in double-figures, finishing with 15 points and five rebounds. Junior guard Tatum Hayes finished with nine points, while junior forward Khadijah Smith chipped in with eight for Edward Waters. 

EWU will have a quick turnaround as they will travel to Brunswick, Georgia to face Coastal Georgia on Tuesday evening at 6:00pm.

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