The Elizabethtown College women’s basketball team started off its season with a 88-41 victory over Rutgers University-Camden on Saturday night in the first round of the Terry Greene Memorial Tournament at Franklin & Marshall College.

Senior captain Taylor Kreider began the season with a strong performance, posting her first double-double of the season with 17 points and 13 rebounds. This was Kreider’s 27th double-double of her career. The forward also scored her 1,000th point of her career in the victory on a free throw early in the second half. Kreider only needs 272 points in order to join the Etown 1,000-point scoring list after transferring from Penn State University-Berks after her first year.

Sophomore Rachel Forjan, who was not to be outdone by her teammate, went on to score a game-high 21 points. Forjan was solid from behind the arc, hitting three of five shots from the three-point line.

Senior captain Kendra Beittel also got in on the action, hitting six of the 14 shots she took. Beittel ended up with 10 points on the night for a Blue Jay team the that never gave Rutgers-Camden a chance. The Raptors got out to an early lead of 6-2, but could not muster up much offense after that point. The Blue Jays scored the next four baskets to take the lead and never looked back.

Head Coach Sherri Gorman, in her second season with the team, made sure to give all players a chance; all 10 Blue Jays on the Etown bench were able to get time in the winning game.

A number of first-years also helped the Blue Jays dominate. First-year Emily Martin came off the bench to add to the Etown point total. Martin scored 11 points in her first game in a Blue Jay uniform. Fellow first-year Krissy Pennell had a game-high six assists in the landslide victory.

Etown capitalized off of 33 Raptor turnovers with 35 points off the transition. The Blue Jays’ bench also outscored the Raptors’ bench by almost 30 points, 31-2. Juniors Erika Ferro and Emily Young, along with sophomore Alyssa Aichele, came off the bench to score 28 points.

The Blue Jays’ 88 points were the most they had scored in a season opener since the 1988-89 season, when they went on to win the program’s second NCAA Division III National Championship. In that season opener, the Blue Jays defeated Bridgewater College, 95-66.

Etown then moved on to face Franklin & Marshall in the tournament championship on Sunday.

The Blue Jays will next face off against the Lycoming College Warriors when they travel to Williamsport, Pa. on Tuesday, Nov. 26 at 6 p.m.