After a tight first quarter, the University of Minnesota Duluth pulled away to an eventual 87-55 exhibition victory over Bethel University in the Romano Gym debut for head coach Mandy Pearson.

Junior center Allyson Harris proved too much for the Division-III Royals, dropping a career-high 29 points on 14-of-23 shooting while also hauling in a game-high 14 rebounds. She was one of four Bulldogs to reach double figures, with junior forward Kenzie Kane also dropping a career high of 19 points on the night.

The match-up saw the Romano debuts of four Bulldog freshmen, including a start for forward Emma Boehm as UMD was still nursing some injuries before the regular season. First-year guard Samantha Kozlowski also reached a double-double in her first game in Duluth dropping 13 points off the bench to go with 12 boards -- eight on the defensive end. First-year forward Tori Fringer also hit double figures for UMD with 10 points in a reserve role.

UMD's offense was clicking far better than it had last weekend in an exhibition defeat against the Green Bay Phoenix, as the Bulldogs shot 48.4 percent on the night (31-of-64), taking just 11 three-pointers and getting to the free throw line 30 times, of which they scored 22 times. On the other end, UMD held Bethel to just 23.9 percent shooting while sending them to the line 24 times.  Senior guard Hannah Niewald had 15 points to lead the Royals, while sophomore forward Molly O'Toole added 10 points for Bethel. UMD out-rebounded the Royals 55-35 overall and 43-9 in the Bulldogs' defensize end.

UP NEXT
UMD will officially open the regular season next week when the Bulldogs travel to Michigan Tech University on Saturday afternoon. Opening tip is set for 2:00 p.m. local time. UMD will open its home regular season and Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference play on Saturday, Nov. 28 when the team plays host to St. Cloud State University at 2:00 p.m.