Behind a 45-percent shooting effort from the floor, the Brownwood Lady Lions rolled past the Eastland Lady Mavs, 67-54, Tuesday night at Warren Gym in the 2023-24 basketball season opener.

“We came out with great effort on both ends of the court,” said Lady Lions 15th-year head coach Heather Hohertz. “We flew around defensively, I was pleased with what we did rebounding-wise, and it’s always good to open the season with a win and gain some confidence. Obviously we have room to grow and we don’t want to be satisfied, but it’s a good start.”

Led by 29 points from Kimber Green and 20 from Hannah Deen, Brownwood generated more points in its season opener than any game in the 2022-23 campaign, a season in which the Lady Lions finished 17-19 and qualified for the playoffs. Brownwood’s high-water mark a year ago was 65 points in a 41-point victory at San Angelo Lake View on Dec. 19.

“Kimber was really in rhythm with her three-pointers and Hannah was really attacking the basket with a purpose,” Hohertz said. “When you have two people with 20 points or more, what else can you ask for?”

The Lady Lions connected on 40 percent (9 of 22) of their three-point attempts to go along with 61 percent (16 of 26) of their free throws.

Miranda Northcutt chipped in seven points, Icess Hall added five, and Trinity Roberts and Adyson Neel both finished with three points.

“I was really happy with all of them,” Hohertz said of the offense. “Icess also hit a big three, Adyson Neel stepped up with a big three in the third quarter. I was pleased with our effort.”

Leading the charge defensively for the Lady Lions were Roberts and Kate Tindol, with 11 and 10 rebounds, respectively. Brownwood finished with 31 rebounds as a team and tallied seven steals.

The Lady Lions (1-0) will be back in action at 5:45 p.m. Friday when they host Merkel, the second of three straight home games to kick off the season.

(story/photo courtesy Derrick Stuckly of Brownwoodnews.com)