BOSTON -- The Mount Holyoke College basketball team opened the 2022-23 season with a 79-34 loss at UMass-Boston Wednesday night, with a pair of first-year players leading the Lyons in the scoring column.

First-year Libby Harris (Foxborough, Mass.) led Mount Holyoke with 10 points in her collegiate debut, adding three rebounds and one assist. First-year Alex Twomey (Nutley, N.J.) came off the bench to score eight points to go with four rebounds and two steals.

Sophomores Cal McGonagle (Yarmouth, Maine) and Marley Berano (Lady Lake, Fla.) scored seven points apiece for the Lyons, with McGonagle grabbing a team-high five rebounds. Junior Nicole Lutalo (Kampala, Uganda) also grabbed four rebounds, as the host Beacons outrebounded Mount Holyoke by a 52-35 margin.

Macy Hutton led UMass-Boston with 18 points and eight rebounds. Meg Dixon scored 15 points while Paige Ollivierre and Beeban Jikiemi-Pearson added 10 points apiece.

Berano made a free throw for the first point of the season and a 1-0 Mount Holyoke lead. The hosts reeled off 12 straight points before Harris stemmed the run with a 3-pointer. Harris made another three and McGonagle added a jumper to close the gap to 17-9. The Lyons held the Beacons scoreless over the final 2:34 of the quarter and ended the period with a 21-9 deficit.

Berano and Twomey scored four points apiece in the second quarter, while Hutton matched them with eight points of her own as UMass-Boston ended the half with a commanding 45-19 lead.

UMass-Boston shot .453 from the field and .194 from three-point territory. Mount Holyoke shot .200 from the field and .143 from three, but the Lyons made 10-of-15 free throws (.667) while the hosts made 5-of-10 at the line.

Mount Holyoke will play Saturday at Fitchburg State, tipping off at 12pm.