SOMERS — The UW-Parkside women’s basketball team never trailed in its season opener with Florida Southern and led by double figures for most of the final 27 minutes. Despite how it might look when you see the Rangers won, 89-74, the home team seldom was able to feel like it had the game in total control.

“It just really didn’t feel comfortable until the final buzzer,” Parkside senior guard Amanda Gibson said.

“Not until the final buzzer went off,” Rangers coach Jenny Kenesie added. “You’re never too comfortable.”

Moccasins junior guard Chelsea Johnson, a rail-thin 5-foot-4, made things difficult. Johnson, who came into the game with an 1,042 points (18.6 ppg) in two seasons, scored 21 of her game-high 25 points in two impressive sequences — nine during the final 1 minute, 23 seconds of the first half and 12 in 5:14 midway through the second. It was the second-half run, which included an impressive reverse layup she made with her left hand, that had fans oohing and ahing and the Rangers a bit nervous.

“She’s one of the fastest guards I’ve ever played, if not the fastest, for sure,” Gibson said. “Some of those shots she made ...

“We had spurts where we were able to contain her because my teammates were helping a lot when she would penetrate. You’ve just got to play as tough as you can on a guard like that.”

Gibson led the Rangers with 23 points, and added seven assists and a pair of steals. A pair of sophomores, guard Jadee Rooney and guard/forward Brittany Beyer, added 21 each. Junior center Brittany Hogen contributed 14 points and 11 rebounds. Senior guard Jen Moran did not score, but did pull down nine rebounds to help the Rangers to a 42-26 advantage on the boards.

Gibson had six points and Beyer four in an 11-0 run that gave the Rangers a 37-20 lead with 3:44 to play in the first half.

The Moccasins, also playing their season opener, closed to 45-40 on a 3-point basket by Johnson, a four-point play by Megan Dzikas (23 points) and a three point play by Johnson.

Hogen’s layin in the final second made it a seven-point halftime lead, and the Rangers made their first five field-goal attempts in the second half to bump the advantage to 57-43 with 18:02 to go.

The Moccasins drew within seven twice, the last time at 79-72 with 3:34 remaining, but Hogen (two free throws and two baskets) and Gibson (two baskets) allowed the Rangers to pull away for good.

The Rangers shot 61 percent in the first half and 57 percent for the game. They made 7-of-11 3-point attempts and were 20-of-23 from the free-throw line (87 percent).

Those numbers took the sting out of 23 turnovers.

“I thought we did some nice things,” Kenesie said. “Obviously, there are some things we’ve got to work on on both ends of the floor. But I thought our kids played well and really hard the entire game, and that’s all you can ask for, especially as you start the year out.”

It was especially nice to start with a victory, which, Gibson reminded, was not the case last season.

“It feels really good,” Gibson said. “Last year, we got off to that 0-4 start and those are the games that really hurt us in the end, to keep us from getting to the NCAA tournament.

“It feels really good to start this one off with a win, and hopefully we’ll be able to keep it going.”