Worcester, Mass. (November 18) -- Led by a season-high 32 points from senior All-American candidate Kelly Meredith (Franklin, Mass.), the Assumption women's basketball team cruised to an 85-66 non-conference victory over Molloy College on the first day of the Assumption Tip-Off Classic at Laska Gym.

The Hounds held a 46-37 halftime lead and pushed that advantage to as many as 26 points with 11:29 left in the second half. Assumption forced 26 Molloy turnovers in the game and held the Lions to just 34.6 percent shooting from the field in the second half.

Meredith led the team with 32 points in just 26 minutes, her fourth career 30+ point game and just two points shy of her career high. She moved into 12th place on the Assumption career scoring list as she now has 1,161 points. Junior forward Sabrina Siciliano (Fairfield, Conn./Fairfield-Warde) posted a 14-point, 11-rebound double-double, while Katy Howard (Medway, Mass./Medway) and Shannon Ray (Yonkers, N.Y./Ursuline Academy) each had a game-high six assists.

Jessica DeNicola led the Lions with 20 points in 25 minutes off the bench, along with 10 points each from Ashley Addison and Julia Finlay.

The Hounds, who are receiving votes in the ESPN/USA Today Division II Preseason Top-25 Poll, improve to 2-0 overall, while the Lions fall to 3-2 on the season. Assumption is back in action on Saturday afternoon, hosting Caldwell College for a 3:30 p.m. start on day two of the Assumption Tip-Off Classic.