BILLINGS, Mont. – Defense was the key on Friday as the Gannon women's basketball team opened the 2023-24 season with a victory in the three-day D2CCA Tip Off at the Trailhead tourney.

Coach Cleve Wright's Gannon team held Texas A&M-Kingsville to just 24 percent shooting as the Golden Knights overcame their own shooting struggles for a 49-41 victory in their season opener.

Senior post player McKel Nation (Lebanon, Ohio/Springboro) went 3-for-4 from 3-point range and led Gannon with 16 points. Fellow senior Sam Pirosko had a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds, while sophomore Maddy Wheatley (Canberra, Australia/UCSSC Lake Ginninderra) added eight points.

Gannon opened the season with a lot of new faces seeing playing time after the graduation of several key players from last year's 29-5 team.

Both teams started the game with cold shooting before Pirosko's two free throws gave Gannon a 10-9 lead going into the second quarter. The Knights took a 21-18 lead into halftime.

The score was tied 24-24 with 4:30 left in the third quarter when Gannon took command. The Golden Knights scored 11 consecutive points to take a 35-24 lead into the fourth quarter. Wheatley hit two 3-point field goals during that run, and Bri Claxon (South Webster, Ohio/South Webster) added another 3-pointer.

The GU lead grew to as large as 47-32 before Texas A&M-Kingsville made a late run.

Gannon limited Texas A&M-Kingsville to 12-of-50 shooting, while the Knights shot 31.6 percent (18-of-57) from the field. Gannon made 7-of-21 attempts from 3-point range.

Andrea Maibach (Creston, Ohio/Norwayne) had seven rebounds for GU, while Nation added six. Wheatley paced the Knights with four assists.

Gannon continues play in the tournament on Saturday at 4:30 p.m. when its faces No. 19-ranked Angelo State, which opened with an 81-67 loss to the University of Mary on Friday.