ASHEVILLE, N.C.— The Montreat women's basketball team continued its homestand at Kimmel Arena Tuesday evening with an Appalachian Athletic Conference (AAC) contest versus the Brenau University Golden Tigers. Applying pressure on both ends of the floor, the Cavaliers outscored their opponents in each quarter, a feat that eventually translated to an 86-50 win. With the triumph, the hosts improved to 7-4 (5-2 AAC) on the year.
 
Rymiah Sanders and Karis Alexander combined for the initial 11 points of the night as the Cavs seized an 11-0 advantage just over four minutes into the matchup. Virginia Edmondson drained a 3-pointer after Brenau (2-10, 1-7 AAC) notched its first basket, and Cierra Lail added a jumper to grow the edge up to 14 points (16-2) midway through the frame. Montreat ultimately concluded the quarter with a 20-6 lead.
 
Edmondson continued her career night with 11 points during the second period alone. Back-to-back steals turned into layups for the Goldsboro, N.C. native, and the hosts built their largest advantage of the half late in the frame (38-13). Sanders tacked on six points down the stretch, sending the Cavaliers to the intermission with a 44-20 edge.
 
Entering the contest needing 26 points to hit 1,000 for her collegiate career, Edmondson wasted no time in accomplishing that task. The senior poured in 14 of Montreat's first 16 points in the quarter, reaching the milestone with ease in the process. Edmondson now has 1,006 career points, 894 of which have come as a Cavalier. The home side outpaced the visitors by nine during the period (24-15), and it maintained a comfortable 68-35 lead with merely 10 minutes to go.
 
Seven different Cavs scored during the fourth frame as Montreat saw out a one-sided 86-50 victory inside Kimmel Arena.

"Our team came out firing on all cylinders tonight," said head coach Jamie Moore. "We executed the game plan well, shutting them down inside and getting good close outs on their shooters. Virginia had a huge game for us tonight, but my favorite part of the evening was the way we played as a team. We shared the ball well, which makes us tough to defend. We need to finish this week out strong on Saturday before hitting the break and coming back strong in January."
 
As a squad, the hosts controlled the stat sheet. Montreat shot 45.9 percent from the field (34-74 FG), 41.2 percent from deep (7-17 3-pt FG) and 91.7 percent at the free-throw line (11-12 FT). Meanwhile, it limited the Golden Tigers to just 16-for-67 shooting overall (23.9 percent) and 3-for-20 shooting from beyond the arc (15.0 percent). The home team accumulated more points in the paint (50-16), points off turnovers (38-10), and fast break points (32-5). Montreat also forced 13 additional turnovers (28-15).
 
Edmondson scored a personal-high 32 points as she reached the 1,000-point threshold for her collegiate career. She also led the team with six rebounds. Rymiah Sanders joined Edmondson in double figures with 17 points. Katie Alexander dished out a game-best nine assists, Ania Sands totaled a contest-high five steals and Lail set a career-best mark with four blocks. Eleven different Cavaliers scored in the win, while nine grabbed at least three boards.
 
Montreat hosts Johnson & Wales University Charlotte on Saturday in its final action prior to the Christmas break. Tipoff is scheduled for 5 p.m. at Kimmel Arena in Asheville, N.C.