MONTREAT, N.C.— After starting the season 0-3, the Montreat women's basketball team finds itself on a hot streak as the Cavaliers defeated the Warren Wilson College Owls by a score of 73-40 in a home non-conference affair Tuesday evening to stretch its winning streak to five games. The Cavs now sit at 5-3 on the season through eight contests.
 
Warren Wilson (0-8) took a 2-0 lead early as the Cavaliers missed their opening four shots; however, Montreat utilized turnovers and transition buckets to go up 7-2 behind seven straight points. Though the Owls captured an 8-7 advantage thanks to back-to-back triples, Virginia Edmondson's second 3-pointer of the first quarter gave the hosts a 10-8 edge through 10 minutes.
 
Edmondson, who scored 14 of the team's initial 18 points, continued her quick start by pouring in six more points that capped off an 11-0 run and handed the Cavaliers a double-digit lead (18-8) just 1:50 into the second frame. The Cavs stretched the gap to 14, their largest of the first half, by extending the run to 17-2 following Aebri Graham's 3-point basket midway through the period that made the score 24-10. After WWC cut its deficit to only six (24-18), Montreat responded with fastbreak points and points off turnovers. The Cavaliers, who held a 14-4 advantage in points off turnovers and scored 13 fastbreak points in the opening half, used a quick spurt to lead 32-20 at the intermission.
 
By halftime, Edmondson led all players with 16 points, while six different Cavs drained a shot. Triniti Lockhart grabbed a team-high five rebounds in the first half to go with four assists, and Adrianna Gullette notched four helpers as well. Montreat made nine of its 20 shots in the second frame to shoot 37.1 percent (13-35 FG) in the initial half compared to Warren Wilson's mere 22.6 percent (7-31 FG). After going 3-for-7 from behind the arc in the second, the Cavaliers made 31.3 percent (5-16 3-pt FG) of their 3-point looks, while the visitors connected on four of 14 threes (28.6 percent).
 
The Cavs continued their dominance in the latter half as Edmondson hit two triples and Lockhart added one three at the beginning of the third period. Each team then made a run late in the frame as the squads battled for positioning. Katie Alexander and Grace Rinaldo hit tries from deep to grow the Cavaliers' advantage out to 23 (50-27) with 2:19 remaining in the quarter. Warren Wilson answered with eight consecutive points; however, Montreat still went into the last 10 minutes up 50-35.
 
In the fourth quarter, the Cavaliers produced their best frame both offensively and defensively. Outscoring the Owls 23-5 and holding their opposition to just two makes from the field, the Cavs closed the matchup on a 17-3 run that spanned 7:34. Montreat knocked down half of its attempts (9-18 FG), including four of seven 3-point looks, in the fourth, while WWC shot 10.0 percent (2-20 FG).
 
Edmondson scored another eight points in the final frame to finish with a career-best 31 points on 12-of-19 shooting. She also led all players with six makes from deep (6-11 3-pt FG). Rinaldo joined Edmondson in double-figures in scoring with a career-high 11 points. Lockhart and Cierra Lail each captained the Cavs with eight rebounds and Gullette tallied a college-high eight assists to lead all players. Nine different Cavaliers made a shot in the game, as many grabbed multiple rebounds, eight picked up at least one assist and eight stole the ball at least once.

"I'm pleased that we got the win at home tonight. It was good for us to shoot the ball well. It will help us a lot if we can hit more consistently from the 3-point line like we did tonight," said head coach Josh Thompson.
 
Due to the lopsided score, Montreat held sizeable advantages in most statistical categories. The home side shot 18.2 percent better than its opponent, doubled the Owls' made field goals (28-14), totaled nine more makes from three (14-5), assisted on 15 more baskets (21-6), blocked four additional shots (6-2), forced 14 more turnovers (24-10) and notched 14 more steals (19-5). In the end, the Cavaliers outscored Warren Wilson 28-16 in the paint, 29-10 off turnovers and 25-9 in fastbreak points.
 
Women's basketball returns to conference play with a matchup versus the St. Andrews University Knights inside McAlister Gymnasium on Thursday. Tipoff is expected around 5:30 p.m.