The Grinnell College women's basketball team opened with a flurry, but couldn't keep it up as Buena Vista University rallied for a 90-70 victory in the season opener for both teams Saturday at Darby Gym.

The Pioneers got out of the gate in a hurry, scoring 10 of the game's first 13 points when a free throw by Brianna Gallo '11 made it 10-3 with 14 minutes, 7 seconds left in the opening half. After Buena Vista made a surge to cut it to two, the Pioneers answered with a 9-3 run to go up 19-11 with 9:25 left. Mallory Scharf '11 had a 3-pointer during the run and Hannah Wolf '08 a pair of treys.

But then it was the Beavers' turn as they reeled off six unanswered points to force a 19-all tie. Grinnell still hung with the visitors, though, and went up by three at 24-21 on a 3-pointer by Jodi Watkins '09. But again Buena Vista came to life, putting together a key 19-4 run over the final 5:42 of the half to take a 40-28 lead into the locker room.

Grinnell got as close as nine points three times early in the second half, but Buena Vista used a 14-2 run to all but put the game away as the lead grew to 58-37 with 14:39 left. The Beavers cruised the rest of the way.

Buena Vista got a 29-point output from Jenn Schumann, who connected on 12-of-13 field goal tries. Wolf led Grinnell with 22 points, Watkins tallied 14 and Scharf put in 11. Three Pioneers - Wolf, Scharf and Jessica Vaverka '11 - had seven rebounds apiece.

The Pioneers were hurt by 29.9 percent field goal shooting, including 22.2 percent in the first half. The Pioneers were 25percent from 3-point range. On the other hand, Buena Vista had a 54.4 percent success rate from the field and shot 42.9 percent from 3-point land.

The Pioneers travel to Colorado Springs, Colo., next week to compete in the Colorado College Tournament. The Pioneers meet Lewis & Clark in the first round at 1 p.m. Friday and will take part in either the consolation or championship game the next day.

Box Score