PHILADELPHIA – After a slow start, the USciences women's basketball team closed the first quarter strong, established a lead in the second, and pulled away in the third en route to opening its season with a second win in two days, 64-46 over Saint Michael's, on Saturday afternoon at Bobby Morgan Arena.

The Devils are have now won 12 straight games in its season-opening conference challenge, dating back to 2013-14.

USciences found itself trailing 11-5 with 1:59 remaining in the first quarter before closing the period with nine points over the final 1:24, beginning with Isla Brennan's layup and ending with seven straight points by Jess Huber, capped a buzzer-beating 3-pointer.

The Devils would not trail again, facing just one tie, 19-19, 3:33 into the second.

Kendall Keyes answered with a triple 15 seconds later, and the Devils led the rest of the afternoon, as they closed the quarter strong once again, scoring eight of the final 11 points – including five in a row from Dayna Balasa – to establish a 33-26 advantage at the break.

St. Michael's hit a trifecta just seconds out of the locker room, but the Purple Knights could never make it a one-possession game as USciences responded with seven unanswered for the game's first double-digit advantage, 40-29, when Huber followed a Keyes three-point play with a jumper 1:32 into the third.

Those were five of the duo's 44 points, and Devils would lead by three-plus possessions the remainder of the afternoon.

Huber led the way with 25 on a career-high 10-of-17 fields goals, which included making 5-of-10 from beyond the arc. She all players with a career-best three blocks and three steals, the latter falling one shy of her career-high that she set last night.

Keyes also made half of her 3-point attempts, 4-of-8, en route to a career-best 19 on 7-of-14 shooting.

Each had a double-digit scoring quarter, with Huber opening the afternoon with 10 in the first and Keyes pouring in 11 in the second. 

Brennan was USciences' next leading scorer with seven on 3-of-5 field goals in 12 minutes off the bench.

Juliana Gura also made an impact off the bench, leading all players with a career-best six assists in 18 minutes. She fell one rebound of shy of Taylor Hamm's game-high eight, which was one shy of her career-best set last night.

Although USciences only won the rebounding battle by one, 35-34, the Devils outscored Saint Michael's 16-4 in second-chance points and dominated scoring in the paint, 28-8.

Freshmen Allison Waters and Shayla Johnson notably made their collegiate debuts, while fellow freshman Anna McTamney scored her first collegiate basket.

University of the Sciences takes 11 days off before beginning a three-game stretch in the Sunshine State at Florida Tech on Wednesday, Nov. 24 at 7 p.m.