WASHINGTON, DC – The Catholic women's basketball team opened up Landmark play at home against Goucher and collected a 72-50 win.

McKenna Karlson put the Cardinals on the board first, scoring six consecutive points before the Gophers' Leila Townsend broke the streak with a three-pointer. The Cardinals used turnovers to their advantage in the first quarter, creating five steals and collecting six points from turnovers. Lauren Kraft collected a defensive rebound and found open teammate Raquel Guidetti for a layup to bring the Cardinals' lead to 10 points, with the score at 16-6. Goucher's Savannah Holmes chopped down Catholic's lead by scoring a layup and a three-pointer back-to-back. The quarter ended with the Cardinals just above the Gophers at 19-15.

Carly Catania came up big for the Cardinals in the second quarter, scoring eight points, two of which were at the free throw line. Amelia Kennedy and Catania scored eleven points together in the first 4 minutes of play in the quarter. Olivia Boccella added to the Cardinals lead with a three-pointer from the left side, bringing the score to 33-25 with 5:28 to play. Kraft collected five rebounds, four of which were on defense, to help keep the ball in Catholic's hands. The Cardinals went into with a 38-25 lead, 12 points above the Gophers. 

Allie Falesto came out of the locker room hot, scoring two layups in the first minute of play in the third quarter. Catholic started to build itself a hefty lead, with Kennedy and Raquel Guidetti working in the paint. A free throw from Kraft with 5:58 left in the game brought the Cardinals lead to 50-30, the largest in the game so far. Goucher attempted to bring themselves back into the match, with Nia George collecting both buckets at the free throw line with 2:28 to play and a layup from Aniaya McDaniel. Karlson closed out the quarter from the free throw line, bringing the score to 57-40.

Karlson opened up the quarter with a three-pointer, once again giving the Cardinals a 20 point lead. Sofia Travieso came off of the bench and collected a bucket. Maggie Hughes ended the quarter with a made free throw, resulting in a final score of 72-50. The Cardinals outscored the Gophers during the fourth quarter 15-10, securing the win in the home opener. 
Lauren Kraft once again proved to be a key piece off of the bench for the Cardinals, earning a career high 12 rebounds. 

Amelia Kennedy scored 17 points against Goucher, leading the Cardinals. McKenna Karlson and Carly Catania both earned 13 points in today's match.

Up next, the Cardinals travel to Williamsport, Pa. to take on Lycoming at 4 p.m. on Saturday, November 22 in Landmark play.