ANAHEIM, Calif. – The Winona State women's basketball team earned an impressive victory in its season opener Friday morning, using a big first quarter to beat Cal State-Dominguez Hills 66-63 in the first of three games at the CCA Division II Tip-Off Classic in Anaheim.

The Warriors proved early on that their NSIC preseason favorite designation was warranted, as senior Alexis Foley scored the first nine points of the game and a 3-pointer by junior Tara Roelofs put WSU put itself out in front 12-0 just more than three minutes into the game against the Toros, an NCAA Tournament team from a year ago.

After a pair of Toro baskets, the Warriors would go on another big run, as a basket from Kayla Timmerman, a pair of Foley free throws, a pair of shots from Emily Wirth and one from Hannah McGlone made it a 22-4 game with 2:07 to play in the opening quarter and when the first 10 minutes was over, WSU had built itself a 26-11 advantage. Foley had 11 of her game-high 18 points in the first quarter.

WSU's lead would shrink away throughout the remainder of the game, as the Toros outscored the Warriors in each of the following three quarters. Winona State built as much as a 20 point lead at 35-15 with just over five minutes to play in the half before Dominguez Hills went on an 11-0 run to close out the half and bring its deficit to single digits, 35-26, at halftime.

The Warriors would get the lead back up to 13 on a couple occasions in the second half but the momentum would continue to swing the Toros' way as WSU clung to a 48-42 lead at the end of three.

A 3-pointer from CSUDH's Monay Lee with 3:37 to play knotted it at 56-56 and the Toros took their first lead at 58-57 with 2:59 left. It would be the only lead Dominguez Hills would enjoy, as a pair of free throws from Roelofs gave WSU back the lead and a Foley jumper made it 61-58 with 1:45 to play.

After another tie at 61-61, it was junior Jenny Weiland who came up clutch, converting a 3-point play to put the Warriors up three before grabbing a rebound on the other end and sinking a pair of free throws to stake WSU to a 66-61 lead with 16 seconds to play before holding on for the 66-63 win.

Foley finished 4-of-8 from the field while going 10-of-11 from the charity stripe and tying career highs in both assists and rebounds with seven in each category.

Roleofs added 14 points with a pair of 3-pointers, while Timmerman was 6-of-13 from the field with six rebounds.

Winona State (1-0) continues play tomorrow at 8:30 p.m. (CDT) against Academy of Art in Anaheim.