LAKE WALES, Fla. – Tonight the Warner Lady Royals Basketball team took on the Trinity College Tigers in their season opener at home in the Turner Athletic Center. Thanks to an explosive 2^nd and 4^th quarters the Lady Royals were able to start the season off right and get that 1^st win 71-48.
 
The Lady Royals had 3 different players score double-digit points: #1 Daijah Turner, #4 Valeria Merlos, and #42 Alana St. Clair.
 

• Daijah Turner had 20 points along with 8 assists. (Led all scorers with 20.)
• Valeria Merlos scored 13 points and had 3 assists.
• Alana St. Clair scored her 17 points coming off the bench and also had 9 rebounds.

 
The first quarter of the game was a defensive battle that ended with the Lady Royals ahead 10-9; in the 2^nd quarter the Royals jumped out ahead by 7 after a 6-0 scoring run and led the Tigers 16-9 before the Tigers could get on the board in the 2^nd.
 
The Lady Royals would continue to have success shooting the ball as they would put up 20 points in the quarter and took a 30-21 lead into halftime.
 
After halftime the Tigers came alive and scored 16 points in the 3^rd quarter, the highest point total for any quarter for the Tigers. Warner would answer with 14 points of their own in the 3^rd and took a 44-37 lead into the 4^th quarter.
 
The Royals led by 7 at the start of the 4^th quarter and Trinity College looked to have built up some momentum at the end of the 3^rd.  However, that did not seem to matter to the Royals who came out shooting lights out in the 4^th with just over 50% from the field.
 
The Lady Royals scored a grand total of 27 points in the quarter to run away with the game and get their 1^st win.
 
Look for the team to carry that momentum into their game next Monday vs Florida National University!