Lady Blazers drop weekend finale at Moberly Area Classic

MOBERLY, Mo. – The short-handed Vincennes University Lady Trailblazers hit the floor again Saturday evening to close out their weekend at the 2024 Orscheln Classic.

The Lady Blazers faced off against host Moberly Area Community College in the final game of the weekend classic and came up just short as the Lady Greyhounds picked up the 73-61 victory.

Vincennes entered the game Saturday evening again playing with only seven active players but that didn't stop VU from bursting out of the gates and building an early 17-12 first quarter lead.

Moberly Area would chip away at this deficit before the end of the first period but the Lady Blazers still ended the first quarter of play ahead 21-20 on the scoreboard.

VU extended their lead again early in the second quarter, building a 28-22 lead before Moberly Area again answered back to even the score at 30-30.

The two teams traded baskets down the stretch of the first half of action, with Moberly Area jumping ahead for the first time in the game with a late second quarter bucket to take a 34-33 lead into the halftime break.

The second half began as more back-and-forth from both teams, with each side answering basket for basket with Moberly able to hang on to their one-point advantage, heading into the final quarter of play leading 49-48.

Early in the fourth quarter is when the Lady Greyhounds appeared to take their next step forward, opening the final 10 minutes of play on a 10-0 scoring run, which VU answered back with six straight points of their own.

Moberly would again grow their lead to double digits midway through the fourth quarter at 66-56 which Vincennes was unable to overcome at the Lady Greyhounds closed out the 73-61 victory in the final game of the 2024 Orscheln Classic.

The Lady Trailblazers were led offensively again by sophomore Kennedy Johnson-Corley (Clarksville, Tenn.) who finished her weekend with 18 points, five rebounds and a pair of assists.

Freshman Netala Dixon (Dyersburg, Tenn.) also broke into double figures scoring, ending her night with 12 points, a team-high five assists and four rebounds.

Freshman Ahmya Thomas (Phoenix, Ariz.) was the third VU scorer in double figures, coming off the bench to add 10 points, five rebounds and three assists in the game.

Freshman Delora Pricop (Brasov, Romania) led the Lady Blazers with nine rebounds to go along with seven points.

The Lady Blazers will look to rebound as they get set to play in front of the home crowd for the first time this season when the Blazers take on Kennedy-King College Saturday, Nov. 9 at 5 p.m. eastern.

VINCENNES BOX SCORE

VINCENNES (61): Marta Chico 2-5 1-2 6, Kiera Gant 2-4 0-2 6, Netala Dixon 2-9 7-9 12, Delora Pricop 2-14 3-4 7, Kennedy Johnson-Corley 8-13 2-2 18, Ahmya Thomas 3-7 3-6 10, Emani Washington 1-7 0-0 2, Team 20-59 16-25 61.

Moberly Area – 20   14   15   24 – 73

VU (0-2) – 21   12   15   13 – 61

Three-point goals: VU 5 (Gant 2, Chico, Dixon, Thomas). Rebounds: VU 32 (Pricop 9). Assists: VU 16 (Dixon 5). Steals: VU 11 (Chico 2, Dixon 2, Johnson-Corley 2, Thomas 2). Blocked Shots: VU 2 (Pricop 2). Turnovers: VU 21. Personal Fouls: VU 29. Fouled out: Pricop, Johnson-Corley.