NEW LONDON, Conn. – It took about 14 minutes to find their footing but once they did, there was little the opposition could do to stop the Roger Williams University Women's Basketball team who claimed a 66-36 victory over Connecticut College in their season-opener at the Luce Fieldhouse on Wednesday night. Eight different players scored five or more points for the Hawks, led by Karli Opalka (Southbury, Conn.) who finished with a game-high 12 points in the win.
 
It was RWU's first official game since February 27, 2020, and they made it count grabbing the win in their fourth consecutive season-opener. In addition, their 30-point margin of victory is their largest in the teams' first game of the season since they began their 2010-11 campaign with a win by the same amount over Newbury College.
 
On the other side, Conn College falls to 1-2 to start the year.
 
The Hawks piled up 15 steals as a team in the contest led by four from Nikki Rosa (Nahant, Mass.) as she also tallied a career-high nine points. Katie Galligan (Pembroke, Mass.) notched nine points in addition to a team-high eight boards and three steals while Kendi Barnard (Bedford, N.H.) pitched in eight points, collected five caroms, and dished out a contest-best four assists.
 
Molly Cronin (Wellesley, Mass.) and Rebecca Oberman-Levine (Hamden, Conn.) tied for the team lead with eight points each to pace the Camels.
 
Hawk Highlights
Karli Opalka: 12 points, 5 rebounds, 1 steal
Katie Galligan: 9 points, 8 rebounds, 1 assist, 3 steals
Kendi Barnard: 8 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assists, 1 steal
Nikki Rosa: 9 points, 5 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 block, 4 steals
Peri MacDonald: 8 points, 7 rebounds, 3 steals
 
For The Opponents
Molly Cronin: 8 points, 3 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 steal
Rebecca Oberman-Levine: 8 points, 4 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 block
Emily Tripp: 6 points, 5 rebounds, 3 steals
Jaycie Rojik: 6 points, 3 rebounds, 1 assist, blocks, steals
Aislinn McMahon: 9 rebounds
 
How It Happened
Connecticut College would jump out to an early lead in the first quarter and it all began with a second-chance three from Rebecca Oberman-Levine (Hamden, Conn.) and a layup from Jaycie Rojik (Scituate, Mass.). Kendi Barnard (Bedford, N.H.) got Roger Williams on the board for the first time in an official game in 21 months with three points the old fashion way but that proved to be just a bump in the road. The Camels countered with triples from Oberman-Levine, Molly Cronin (Wellesley, Mass.), and Emily Tripp (Westport, Mass.) for a 9-2 stretch that they extended to 11-4 to end the first half with a 16-7 advantage.
 
The Hawks connected on just two of their 14 shot attempts in the first frame while Conn College hit half of their eight attempts from long range to build their lead.
 
RWU scored first in the second quarter with Katie Galligan (Pembroke, Mass.) netting her first collegiate points with a layup but then another triple by Oberman-Levine sparked a 7-3 stretch to make the Camel advantage 11, their largest of the night. From there Roger Williams rounded into form. Barnard converted the hoop and the harm to open a 17-5 stretch to close the quarter. The run featured seven points from Caroline Elie (Rockland, Mass.), five from Barnard, three by Nikki Rosa (Nahant, Mass.), and a pair from Karli Opalka (Southbury, Conn.). The stretch quickly erased the deficit and staked RWU to an advantage into halftime.
 
After the basket that made the Conn College lead 11 points, the Hawks held the hosts to just 2-10 shooting while forcing three turnovers. Meanwhile, RWU went 6-14 in that span and created plenty of extra opportunities by grabbing five offensive rebounds to get in front, 29-28.
 
Roger Williams wasted no time putting this game out of reach in the second half and a lot of that success was thanks to their defense. They opened the half netting 21 consecutive points over the first eight and a half minutes of play. On offense, Katie Galligan (Pembroke, Mass.) led the way with seven points during the run while Opalka added six, and Sam Mancinelli (Peabody, Mass.) pitched in five. The stretch finally ended with 68 seconds remaining in the stanza as Hope Wilson (Yarmouth, Maine) connected on a pair from the charity stripe before Peri MacDonald (Melrose, Mass.) tallied the final four points of the frame to make the score 54-30 after three quarters of play.
 
The Hawks did not allow the Camels to score a basket from the field in the entire quarter as the Camels went 0-9 shooting, including 0-5 from three, but they did little to help matters when opportunities arose, making just 2 of their 6 shots from the free throw line while turning over the ball nine times. On the other side, RWU effectively maintained the momentum they gained to end the first half, making half of their 18 shots from the field while protecting the basketball to build their 24-point lead.
 
With the game already out of reach they fourth quarter was a mere formality that saw the Hawks nonetheless outscore the hosts 12-6 with MacDonald, Rosa, and Sophie Araneo (Branford, Conn.) each posting four points in the frame. Meanwhile, on defense they held Conn College to 2-14 shooting from the field.
 
Overall, in the second half, the Camels made just two of their 23 shot attempts while missing all seven of their attempts from long range and committing 13 turnovers to allow Roger Williams to pull away and claim their third win in the last four meetings against Conn College with a 66-36 victory.
 
What's Next
Roger Williams (1-0) makes their long-awaited return to the Campus Rec Center when they host Babson College (4-0) on Saturday afternoon at 1:00 PM.
 
Conn College (1-2) will return to the hardwood when they hose Emmanuel College on Saturday at 11:30 AM.