Lady Blazers ride early scoring run to road Region 24 win at Lincoln Trail

ROBINSON, Ill. – The Vincennes University Lady Trailblazers got off to a hot start on the road Saturday night against Lincoln Trail College, scoring 16 of the first 20 points of the game and held off a second-half comeback by the Lady Statesmen to pick up the 68-59 Region 24 win.

Lincoln Trail battled back in the first quarter after quickly falling behind by 12 to close out the opening 10 minutes of play on a 7-0 scoring run to cut the VU lead down to five at 18-13.

The Lady Blazers would maintain a double-digit lead throughout most of the second quarter, heading into the break after a back-and-forth scoring battle with a 42-28 advantage over Lincoln Trail.

The Lady Statesmen picked up their intensity coming out of the locker room break, outscoring the Lady Blazers 19-4 to cut the deficit to just two points in the third quarter.

VU would close out the third period of play strong however, holding a six-point lead headed into the final 10 minutes of play.

Vincennes looked to put the game away early in the fourth quarter, using a 9-0 scoring run to take a 13-point lead over the host Lady Statesmen.

Lincoln Trail was unable to rally back late as VU came away with the 68-59 win over the Lady Statesmen.

VU was led offensively by the sophomore backcourt duo of Kennadi Harris (Columbus, Ohio) and Cherrelle Newsom (Indianapolis, Ind.), with each finishing with 15 points.

Harris would add a pair of rebounds, while Newsom dished out a team-high five assts, grabbed three rebounds and hit five of nine shots from behind the three-point arc.

Freshman Elikya Baseyila (Paris, France) seems to be back on track after recording her second straight double-double coming off of an ankle injury. Baseyila finished with 12 points and team-highs with 10 rebounds, three blocks and two steals. Baseyila also dished out four assists on the night.

Freshman Katrina Litte (Valmiera, Latvia) ended her night with nine points on a perfect three of three shooting from three-point range and matching Newsom's team-high five assists.

Freshman Maycee Lange (Vincennes, Ind.) ended with seven points and three assists.

The Lady Blazers will return home to the Physical Education Complex Saturday, Jan. 14 when VU hosts Region 24 opponent Rend Lake College at 2 p.m. eastern.

This will be the first game of a two games in three days stretch for the Lady Blazers as VU will then hit the road Monday, Jan. 16 to face off against Southwestern Illinois College in Belleville, Ill. Tip-off time Monday is set for 6 p.m. eastern.

VINCENNES BOX SCORE

VINCENNES (68): Kennadi Harris 7-20 0-0 15, Cherrelle Newsom 5-9 0-0 15, Daylynn Thornton 1-4 2-2 4, Elikya Baseyila 6-9 0-3 12, Maycee Lange 3-9 0-0 7, Chanice Willis 1-8 0-0 2, Elena Tzelou 0-0 0-0 0, Nyre Williams 2-3 0-0 4, Katrina Litte 3-5 0-0 9, Najra Voloder 0-1 0-0 0, Brie Miller 0-0 0-0 0, Team 28-68 2-5 68.

VU (11-7, 4-1) – 18   24   13   13 – 68

Lincoln Trail – 13   15   21   10 – 59

Three-point goals: VU 10 (Newsom 5, Litte 3, Harris, Lange). Rebounds: VU 34 (Baseyila 10). Assists: VU 23 (Newsom 5, Litte 5). Steals: VU 8 (Baseyila 2, Willis 2). Blocked Shots: VU 4 (Baseyila 3). Turnovers: VU 18. Personal Fouls: VU 19. Fouled out: None.