The University of Minnesota Duluth opened its 2016 campaign with a victory in a Thursday night exhibition against Division III Bethel University.

UMD sported a balanced offense attack and stifling defense to propel to the win. The Bulldogs out-shot Bethel 43.9% to just 29.2% and out-rebounded the Royals by a 45-36 mark. Freshman forward Josie Buckley led the way in scoring - netting 13 points on 4-7 shooting. Sophomores Emma Boehm and Sammy Kozlowski put together solid nights offensively, scoring 12 and 11 points, respectively. In her return from a medical redshirt last season, senior forward Taylor Meyer connected on four of seven field goals for eight points, while adding five rebounds. Bethel was led offensively by senior forward Kalli Zimmerman, scoring a game-leading 16 points.

The Bulldogs led in scoring every quarter by five points or more. As was the case much of last season, UMD did much of its work in the paint - scoring 30 of its 73 points under the basket. The Bulldogs shot just 21.1% from the three point line, finding the back of the net on only four of 19 attempts. Defensively, UMD racked up 11 steals and forced 23 Royal turnovers. In total, 13 Bulldog players saw game action including five freshmen making their collegiate debuts.

UMD will take a week off before officially opening up its season on Nov. 12 against Michigan Tech University at Romano Gymnasium.