Phoenix, AZ- Arizona Christian women's hoops used a big first quarter on Friday to propel them past Johnson & Wales (CO) 73-51.  Junior Courtney Christmas produced a line of 19 points, 4 steals, 3 rebounds, 3 blocks, and 2 assists.

Junior Makayla Enders stole a pass and cruised in for a fast break layup to open the scoring.  About a minute later, the Wildcats (1-2) converted a three pointer to take the lead.  But the Firestorm (2-1) use a jumper from Christmas to spark a 12-0 run.

ACU rolled to 26-7 score by the end of the first quarter.  Arizona Christian used a 19-15 second quarter to build a 45-22 lead at the break.

Christmas topped with 14 points at the break.  Junior Jada Willingham used a pair of three pointers to account for just over half of her 10 first half points.

With 3:22 to go in the third quarter, Freshman Sierra Stephan nailed a three pointer to hand ACU a 32 point edge (61-29)- their biggest lead of the night.

From there, Coach Odell Berry rotated his subs heavily into the mix.

At game's end, the 19 of Christmas was followed by 13 for Willingham, 11 for Enders, and nine points each for Stephan and Sophomore Kelsey Miranda (both scored all their points from the three point line).  Enders lead the defensive effort with five steals.  Senior Suzie Castro-Larsen grabbed a team high nine rebounds.

On Saturday, the Firestorm will turn right around and host Warner Pacific in Fultz Memorial Gym at 2:00 pm.