SHIPPENSBURG, Pa. – The Shippensburg University women's basketball team battled toe-to-toe with Wheeling Jesuit in its season opener on Friday night, but the Raiders dropped a 72-63 decision to the Cardinals in the third game of the 2017 Wolf's Bus Lines Classic held inside Heiges Field House.
 
Shippensburg (0-1) used nine players Friday night, six of whom were making their collegiate debut. The Raider starting lineup featured four freshmen and senior captain Victoria Blackburn, who finished with six points, three rebounds and three assists in making her second collegiate start.
 
Freshman Ariel Jones led all players with 24 points, hitting three three-pointers and going 7-of-7 at the free-throw line. Jones played all 40 minutes in her debut, adding three rebounds, three assists, two steals, a block and just one turnover.
 
Freshman Kryshell Gordy notched a double-double in her debut, scoring 12 points on 6-of-8 shooting to go along with 11 points, four assists, three blocks and just one turnover in 38 minutes.

Freshman guard Kasey Engle finished with seven points and battled on the defensive end, as she was tasked with working against forwards for much of the second half due to the defensive rotation. Off the bench, freshman Lili Benzel scored eight points, including a pair of three-pointers.
 
Wheeling Jesuit (1-0) got 20 points from Mariah Callen, who went over the 1,000-point threshold for her career. Monica Burns added 16 points, while Chenelle Moore led all players with 12 rebounds.
 
After trailing by 12 points at halftime, the Raiders battled back in the third quarter, out-scoring the Cardinals 21-16 in the frame, to make it 50-43 in Wheeling's favor entering the final frame. SU held the visitors without a field goal for the final 3:39 of the contest.
 
The Raiders finished the opener with a positive assist-to-turnover ratio, totaling 17 assists to 12 turnovers.
 
Shippensburg will host Bowie State at 6 p.m. Saturday from Heiges Field House in Game 7 of the 2017 Wolf's Bus Lines Classic.