PHOENIX, Ariz. – After taking a secondary scoring role behind a talented freshman class for the first three games of the season for the University of Providence women's basketball team, All-Conference guard Stephanie McDonagh went back to  taking  over games in a 79-51 Lady Argo victory over Benedictine University at Mesa. The senior scored a career-high 30 points on 12-20 shooting with 6 rebounds, 4 steals, and 3 assists.
 
While McDonagh was the clear star of the game by the final buzzer, it was fellow senior Molly Herron who got the Lady Argos out to sizeable early lead. The guard scored 6 of the team's first 8 points to help UP to an 8-2 advantage.
 
That lead continued to grow throughout the first quarter, with McDonagh establishing herself as the best player on the floor, and the UP defense stifling the BenU Mesa offense.
 
The Redhawks shot just 23 percent from the field in the first half and only 7.7 percent from 3-point range, while the Lady Argos hit around 50 percent in both categories. That disparity led to a 43-21 halftime lead for UP and the team cruised from there.
 
Perhaps the biggest takeaway from the game was UP's increased depth and versatility on offense in comparison to last year. In 2016-17 the team basically went as McDonagh went, but against the Redhawks, the team proved it can score when its primary offensive target is shut down.
 
BenU Mesa focused on stopping UP's leading scorer so far this year, freshman  post Parker  Esary, and did so successfully. They limited Esary to a season-low of 6 points, by working hard to deny her touches in the paint. After averaging 12.6 shots per game heading into the contest, Esary only got off 5 with the Redhawks focused on her.
 
Instead of forcing the ball down low, the Lady Argos took what the defense gave them and ran a more guard-oriented attack. That strategy included an efficient barrage of 3-point shots led by freshman point guard Emily Maldonado.
 
Maldonado had her best shooting night from long range of her young career and that is saying something with games of 4-8 shooting and 3-5 shooting from distance already to her name. This time she went 4-6 from three and finished second on the team with 14 points. The 5-5 guard also came away with a team-leading 7 rebounds along with team-leading 5 assists and 2 steals. 
 
The Redhawks also learned what teams in the Frontier Conference already know – if you don't key on McDonagh, she will kill you. The senior was sensational throughout, scoring 16 points in the first half and another 14 in the second. She went 12-20 from the field, 4-8 from three, and 2-2 from the free-throw line. As usual, her stat line included more than just points, this time adding 6 rebounds, 3 assists, and a team-leading 4 steals.
Herron finished the game with a season-high of 13 points along with 4 rebounds, 2 assists, and 1 steal.
 
Senior wing Kallee Wilson also did a lot of the dirty work, tying Maldonado in rebounds with 7 and adding 7 points, 2 assists, and 2 steals on 2-3 shooting.
 
UP is now 4-0 on the year with an average margin of victory of 33.2 points per game. The team will have one more game in Arizona, facing host school Arizona Christian University on November 4 at 2 p.m.