Despite solid help from Anderson High School graduate De’ja Wills, Eastern Michigan opened its season Friday with an 80-71 loss to North Dakota.

Wills was the Eagles’ leading scorer with 14 points. She hit 5 of 11 from the field, including 4 of 8 from 3-point range. She added one assist and one steal to her contribution.

Butler University also started with a loss on Friday as Ohio State handed the Bulldogs a 75-56 defeat.

Pendleton Heights product Susan Lester scored eight points, added two rebounds and an assist in 23 minutes of action. Her shooting numbers (3 of 10) weren’t up to her usual standard. She hit one of her four attempts from 3-point range and netted her only free throw.

Ashlee Zeigler, former Liberty Christian volleyball player, recorded a season-high 33 digs as Taylor University opened the Mid-Central Conference Tournament with a 3-1 win over Huntington University. The scores were 25-22, 25-27, 25-15, and 25-18. In the second round of the tournament, Taylor faced Goshen College and won 3-0, with scores of 25-23, 25-16, and 25-15. Zeigler had 3 digs and 2 kills.

Zeigler has 1,665 digs for her career, and ranks ninth all-time in the Taylor University record books.

Goshen dropped a pair of women’s basketball games a week ago at the Olivet Nazarene Tournament, but Highland graduate Stormy Holder held up her end in both contests and was selected to the All-Tournament Team.

In the 84-46 loss to Aquinas College, Holder was the lone Maple Leaf to score in double digits with 13. She was 0-for-4 from 2-point range but 4-of-7 beyond the 3-point arc. She also had two rebounds and one steal.

In a 93-76 loss to Indiana Tech, Holder again scored in double figures with 15. She hit 3-of-8 shots, all from 3-point range. She hit all six of her free throws and added six rebounds and four assists in 32 minutes.

At Purdue, Alexandria’s Jodi Howell knocked some rust off in an exhibition game to start her junior year. She missed all of last season with a shoulder injury.

Purdue defeated the OGBR Legends, 68-50. Howell scored six points in 20 minutes, hitting 2-of-3 from 3-point range. She also had one steal.

Grace College won two of its first three women’s basketball game, and Lapel graduate Kayla Skaggs played an increasingly important role in those three contests.

Skaggs scored just two points with a rebound, an assist and a blocked shot in an 84-65 loss to Cornerstone University.

In a 69-54 win against Trinity International, Skaggs scored six points with one rebound and one steal. Then in a 67-65 thriller against Siena Heights, Skaggs registered a double-double with 12 points and 12 rebounds. She added three assists, one block and two steals to her portion of the ledger.

Pendleton Heights graduate Taylor Miller scored 11 points for Southern Indiana in a lopsided 93-49 loss to Indiana University on Nov. 1.