The Carroll College women's basketball team trailed for all of three minutes in their season opener, ripping off a 23-5 run in the first-half to run away with a 85-49 blowout of nonconference foe Simpson University Friday night at the P.E. Center.

JuCo transfer and junior point guard Alex Dunn showed why she had her coaches buzzing before the season opened, spearheading the fullcourt man-to-man pressure and attacking offense that left the the Redhawks scattering in the first half.

Dunn led the Saints with 15 points and six assists, most of which came before the break while her team's lineup of outside shooters struggled to shake off the summer rust.

"Our main scorers really had a hard time shooting in that first half," Carroll head coach Shawn Nelson said. "We're pretty deep, though, and we had some players step up ... We moved the ball pretty well most of the night."

The Saints (1-0) fell behind almost immediately when Simpson wing Paige Barrett hit a tough over-the-shoulder hook off the left block in the opening minute. The Redhawks eventually pushed that lead to 4-1.

Junior Cassie Scheffelmaier powered a tough offensive board up and in just seconds later, though, and had an opportunity for a three-point play to tie it. Scheffelmaier failed to convert, but junior center Sara Meyer grabbed the offensive board and layed it in for a 5-4 Saints advantage.

Carroll would not surrender the lead again.

Meyer, starting for the first time since last season's nonconference schedule, finished with a double-double for Carroll with 14 points and a game-high 10 boards.

Meyer was also part of an effective high-low connection from her perch at the top of the key, that kept the Saints rolling when the shots weren't falling.

"I had a lot more confidence than our first scrimmage," Meyer said. "We kind of shook the nerves out."

Meyer pointed to the Saints' 23 turnovers as a major area of concern, as they struggled at times adjusting to a more up-tempo system than the team has played in past seasons.

"Sometimes we were forcing things and probably going too fast," Meyers said. "We've been playing at this pace since summer, so I think we'll get better tomorrow."

Senior shooting guard Elly Bruursema, the Frontier Conference's leading scorer last season, was one of the gunners that struggled in the first half - finishing scoreless at the break.

She bounced back in a big way in the second half, though, hitting a trio of 3-pointers on her way to 13 points.

The Saints finished just 8 of 24 from behind the arc, and many of those attempts came wide open against a tired Redhawks defense that struggled to cover the perimeter in the second half.

Aside from their shooters getting back in the groove, Nelson said he was most excited about the positve news he received about injured forward - and projected starter - Jeni Guertin. The transfer from Division I Idaho State hurt her knee in practice Wednesday, but Nelson said he is hoping she could see minutes in today's rematch with Simpson.

Trent Makela: 447-4085 or trent.makela@helenair.com