The Middlebury women's basketball team tipped off the 2017-18 season with an 80-55 triumph in the Brown & Plofker Gym over host Emerson on Saturday at the Emerson Tip-Off Classic. The Panthers (1-0) return to action on Sunday when they face Mount Saint Mary (N.Y.) at 1:00 p.m.

Coming off the bench for Middlebury, Sabrina Weeks canned seven points in a first quarter that saw the Panthers put up 23 points and hold a 23-14 lead. Middlebury kept Emerson off the scoreboard through the first 5:38 of the stanza, holding a 10-0 lead before Natalie Busch scored for the hosts. The visitors stretched their lead to 12 (23-11) in the final seconds on a three by Weeks before Kate Foultz answered with a three pulled the Lions to within nine (23-14) at the end of the first quarter.

In the second, Middlebury outscored the Lions by a 19-5 count, shooting 47.1 percent (8-17) from the field, while limiting the hosts to just 8.3 percent from the floor (1-12). The Lions cut the Panther advantage to 14 (32-18) at the 5:55 mark of the second frame on a free throw from Sophia Detweiler. The Panthers responded with a 10-0 run over the next minutes for a 42-18 lead, as Weeks and Lily Kuntz both had five points in the run before an Emerson free throw made the halftime lead 42-19.

Out of the halftime break, the Panthers slowly increased their lead to as many as 25 (53-28) on a layup by Eileen Daley with 2:58 left in the quarter. The Lions tallied the final nine points of the stanza, cutting the Panther advantage to 16 (53-37) on an old-fashioned three-point play by Maya Savino with one second left.

The final quarter saw the Panthers maintain their double-digit lead, pulling away for the 80-55 victory.

Sarah Kaufman led four Middlebury in double figures with 12 points, Kuntz and Weeks each had 11, while Colleen Caveney chipped in with 10. Alex Huffman had a solid all-around game with seven points, seven rebounds and five assists, while Kuntz had a game-best five steals.

Emerson went 18-for-52 on the floor (34.6%), canned 12 of 19 shots from the charity line (63.3%) and went 7-for-22 beyond the arc (31.8%). Middlebury finished 33-64 from the field (51.6%), going 9-21 from the three-point line (42.9%) and made 5-8 shots at the free throw line (62.5%). The Panthers held a 41-26 rebounding advantage, possessed a decided edge in points in the paint (42-18), second-chance points (15-2) and bench points (38-16).