Saturday afternoon the Barclay College Lady Bears opened up their 2016-17 season at Hockett Auditorium in Haviland, Kans. against Baptist Bible College (Springfield, Mo.). Not only was it the season opener, but it was also head coach Marcus Mitchell’s first game at the helm. If it is any indication of the things to come, Mitchell has the Lady Bears moving in the right direction.

The Bears jumped out to an early first quarter lead with a multitude of new faces in the mix. Freshmen Sarah Easterwood (Rolla, Kans.), Kaitlyn Hiser (Glenrock, Wyo.) and Hannah Thornburg (Whitewater, Kans.) mixed right in with returner sophomore Hannah Brown (Haviland, Kans.) to help propel the Lady Bears to the early lead. In addition, junior Mycha Owens (Cullison, Kans.) and freshmen Leilani Carrasco (Eaton, Co.) and Taylar Pfaff (Minneola, Kans.), fresh off the conclusion of volleyball the night before, contributed some valuable minutes. The Patriots lack of depth compounded their problems and the Bears rolled to a 91-39 victory in front of the home crowd.

Veteran assistant coach Ray Anderson summed it up best, “Under the circumstances, it went about as well as we could have hoped. It was the first time we had our whole official squad together.”

The Lady Bears are back in action on Tuesday, November 8 when they travel to Salina, Kans. for an exhibition against Brown Mackie College at 5:30pm.