WINONA, Minn. – The Winona State jumped out to a quick lead and never looked back, claiming a season-opening 99-35 victory over Crown College Friday night in McCown Gym.

The Warriors had few struggles shooting the ball, shooting 55 percent for the game – including 62 percent in the second half. Six Warriors scored in double figures to lead the balanced attack.

The Warriors quickly raced out to an early lead and by the 14:08 mark Kali Hackmann had converted on a 3-point play to make it 20-6. After a mini-run for the Storm to cut the lead to 24-14, the Warriors went on a much larger run, one that lasted for nearly eight minutes while scoring 19 unanswered points to make it 43-14 with just 2:58 to play in the first half. WSU finished the half enjoying a 30-point lead at 49-19.

Kayla Timmerman had 10 of her 12 points in the first half on 5-of-7 shooting while going 6-of-8 on the evening.

After a quick spurt of life from the Storm out of the second half to make it 51-25, WSU went on its second huge run of the game, this one preventing a Crown basket for over eight minutes while WSU scored 17 unanswered points to make it 68-25.

Sophomore Jenny Tuttle was a second half bright spot for WSU, scoring 13 of her game-high 16 points in the final 20 minutes to help the Warriors cruise to the eventual 99-35 victory. Tuttle was 6-of-9 from the floor while hitting a pair of 3-pointers and collecting six rebounds while also accumulating two steals and two assists.

Joining Tuttle and Timmerman in double figures were four other Warriors, including Connor Nagle (13 points), Jenny Weiland (12), Emily Wirth (11) and Allison Hocking (10) as the six combined to score 74 of the team's 99 points. All but one Warrior who played scored in the game.

The Warriors were very strong defensively, recording 14 steals (two apiece from seven different players) while forcing 29 Storm turnovers in total. The Warriors also outrebounded Crown by a hefty 42-20 margin.

Winona State (1-0) is back in action Saturday at 4 p.m. when it welcomes Trinity Christian College (Ill.) into McCown Gymnasium.