The Weber State women’s basketball team opened their season with a blowout 77-31 win over the Montana-Western Bulldogs Friday night at the Dee Events Center.

“There was a lot of hard work by everyone on the court tonight,” said junior center Jalen Carpenter. “Our hard work paid off and we were able to get our season off to a good start. It feels great opening up this season with a win.”

The Wildcats got off to a hot start in the game, getting their offense started early and making a dominant stand the first half. They shot 18-34 in the paint, and were 4-8 from three-point range as the Wildcats went into halftime with a 43-17 lead.

Coming back out from halftime, the Wildcats quickly picked up from where they left off as they defeated Montana-Western 77-31.

WSU head coach Bethann Ord applauded the efforts of the team and the victory for their season opener, but remained focused on the rest of the season.

“The girls played well tonight, and deserved their win,” Ord said. “Despite the good win, we are a team that is ever improving and know we have along way to go. Bright and early we are going to hit the court and work out our issues and hopefully become better from it all.”

Jalen Carpenter led the team in scoring, despite only playing 15 minutes, with 17 points overall, shooting 8-10 from the field and 1-3 from the free-throw line.

“Tonight I definitely was in the zone and worked my hardest every second I was on the floor,” Carpenter said. “There are areas where I need to improve, but for the time I was on the court I was able to really perform well tonight.”

Regina Okoye played a crucial part in the overall game play in the night, adding five steals, three assists and two blocked shots.

“I took a lot of opportunities tonight to help keep the ball in our hands,” Okoye said. “I wish I would have had more opportunities offensively, but I am happy with my performance and know now where I need to improve.”

With her five steals in the game, Okoye moved up to third place in the Wildcat’s career steals record book with 165 steals. She is now 50 steals away from setting the career record.

Tinisha Toussaint put up a solid effort also as she finished with 10 rebounds on offense and two on defense for a combined total of 12 of the 57 teams rebounds.

“I knew I needed to keep myself ready and available to make the boards and rebound when I could,” Toussaint said. “Some places I didn’t perform as well as I should have, but where there is room to improve it shows that I still have more room to grow.”

The Wildcats (1-0) return to the court on Monday night for a combined double-header with the men’s team. The women’s team faces Bristol University (0-2) at the Dee Events Center at 5 p.m.

Charles can be found tweeting @cbowkstar_91 or cheering like a fool at Wildcat sporting events