LOUISVILLE, Ky. — The Bellarmine University women's basketball team's Division I and Freedom Hall debut was an eye-opener.

On Monday, Ball State had five players score in double figures and jumped out to a 29-5 lead after one quarter against the shorthanded Knights en route to a 98-42 win.

"I thought Ball State played a fantastic game," Knights Coach Chancellor Dugan said. "I don't think they missed the first five minutes, and it was tough for us to recover from that."

Senior forward Lauren Deel scored a team-high 14 points for the Knights (0-1), whose debut was delayed about three weeks due to the effects of the pandemic. In her collegiate debut, freshman guard Hannah Farrell came off the bench to haul in 10 rebounds.

It certainly didn't help that the Knights were missing multiple players, including leading returning scorers and senior captains Breia Torrens and Tasia Jeffries, who were both All-Conference guards last season. Bellarmine also barely had the opportunity to scrimmage in practice before its season opener.

"It's going to a process," Dugan said. "Missing players made it a lot tougher. I thought we rushed some shots and weren't ready for their physicality."

Of the heightened level of physical play in Division I compared to DII, Dugan said, "It's legit, it's real."

Essence Booker paced Ball State (2-3) with 22 points. Anna Clephane added 16, Annie Rauch posted a double-double with 15 and 11 rebounds, Sydney Freeman matched her with 15 points and Blake Smith nearly had a second double-double for the Cardinals with 10 points and nine rebounds.

Ball State shot 52.3 percent from the field and 88.5 percent (23 of 26) from the free-throw line. The Cardinals used their superior size for a 48-18 advantage in points in the paint and capitalized when they pushed the tempo with 29 fast-break points.

"Ball State looked like they had practiced here (in Freedom Hall) for the last week, as well as they shot the ball," Dugan said. "We're looking forward to getting better as the season goes on."

Bellarmine plays at 7 p.m. (ET) Wednesday at Western Kentucky.

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