Monroe, La. - Lauren Fitch scored 19 points and Amber Thompson added 17 as the ULM women's basketball team returned from a 10-day hiatus to roll by Arkansas Monticello 70-39 in the non-conference finale on Sunday afternoon at Fant-Ewing Coliseum.

"We are really pleased to go into conference play on a high note and with a little momentum," said head coach Jeff Dow. " You never quite know what you're going to get with that first game back after the break but all-in-all I thought it was a pretty mature, business-like effort.  I think after 11 games we've forged an identity of being a pretty solid team defensively in the half court, and today was no exception.  We felt going into the game that Arkansas Monticello had some players that could give us some problems because of their quickness.  I thought we did a pretty good job all game of limiting their drives and obviously keeping them off the free throw line.  They came in averaging 22 free throw attempts a game and we held them to 10, so obviously we showed pretty good discipline in that regard.  And that combined with a dominant rebounding effort and limiting them to 24% from the field was huge for us." 

Thompson and Fitch ignited the attack for ULM (6-5) in the first quarter. Thompson drained a 3-pointer on the opening possession, and Whitney Goins followed with a layup before Fitch scored back-to-back buckets. Thompson then added a basket and a free throw to put ULM up 12-0 with 5:07 left in the opening quarter. Thompson finished with 10 points in the period while Fitch added six. UAM (3-6) would cut the deficit to nine at the end of the quarter, 22-13.

The Warhawk defense took over in the second quarter, limiting the Cotton Blossoms to just four points. Bernezhia Tidwell brought UAM within seven on a jumper with 8:42 left in the half, but UAM would only pick up a pair of free throws by Taylor Farley over the remainder of the quarter. ULM finished the half with a 13-2 run, led by Fitch's perfect 3-of-3 performance from the floor, including a 3-pointer, to put the Warhawks up 35-17 at halftime.

ULM continued to pull away in the third quarter, hitting four 3-pointers in the quarter. Goins canned a pair of treys while Fitch and Thompson added one each. The Warhawks led by as much as 30 on a pair of free throws by Fitch to go up 55-25. ULM led 55-27 after three.

The Warhawks would push the lead to as much as 35 in the fourth quarter on a layup by Diamond Brooks with 2:09 remaining.

Fitch finished an efficient 7-of-10 shooting, knocking down both 3-point attempts and all three free throws for a game-high 19 points. She also dished out three assists and picked up three steals. Thompson shot an even 50 percent at 7-of-14 from the field, burying a pair of 3-pointers and just missing her first double-double with a career-high nine rebounds. Thompson also had three assists and two steals. Jamie Means pulled in nine rebounds while Goins stuffed the stat sheet with eight points, seven rebounds, three assists and two steals.

"We got great all-around performances from Amber Thompson and Lauren Fitch today," Dow said. "We've been encouraging Amber to go to the o-boards more and she came up with six to go along with her 17 points and three assists.  Lauren was extremely efficient in scoring her 19 points but only needing 10 shots to do so."
 
ULM shot 43.1 percent from the field (28-of-65) while hitting 33.3 percent from 3-point range (7-of-21). ULM allowed a season-low 23.6 percent shooting from UAM (13-of-55), while limiting the Cotton Blossoms to just 19 percent from 3-point range (4-of-21). ULM dominated on the glass, out-rebounding the Cotton Blossoms 52-27.

The Warhawks open Sun Belt Conference play on Thursday when they visit Little Rock for a 7:00 p.m. tip-off. Links to video and radio feeds as well as live stats are available at ULMWarhawks.com.