Lady Trailblazers ride second quarter run to win over Lincoln Trail
VINCENNES, Ind. – The VU Lady Trailblazers opened their Region 24 schedule by hosting Lincoln Trail College at the P.E. Complex Wednesday night and game away with a 76-68 win over the Lady Statesmen. Vincennes used a 20-3 scoring run to help put the game out of reach early and rode that momentum to the end giving the Lady Blazers the eight-point victory. VU jumped out to an early lead in the first quarter, leading 10-3 midway through the first period, before Lincoln Trail rallied back with a 9-0 scoring run to take the lead.
VINCENNES, Ind. – The VU Lady Trailblazers opened their Region 24 schedule by hosting Lincoln Trail College at the P.E. Complex Wednesday night and game away with a 76-68 win over the Lady Statesmen.
Vincennes used a 20-3 scoring run to help put the game out of reach early and rode that momentum to the end giving the Lady Blazers the eight-point victory.
VU jumped out to an early lead in the first quarter, leading 10-3 midway through the first period, before Lincoln Trail rallied back with a 9-0 scoring run to take the lead.
Vincennes would then score 20 of the next 23 points in a 20-3 scoring run that stretched from the first quarter to midway through the second quarter to hold a 30-15 lead on the scoreboard.
Lincoln Trail would close out the second half strong by cutting into the deficit but the Lady Blazers still held a 10-point advantage heading into the locker room.
The Lady Statesmen came out of the locker room attacking Vincennes as Lincoln Trail cut the VU lead to two midway through the third quarter as Vincennes held on to a three-point lead heading into the final quarter of play.
Vincennes began to grow their lead back in the fourth quarter, holding a seven-point lead before Lincoln Trail again answered back to cut the VU lead to two points with two minutes to play.
VU answered back with some big shots late from freshman Trinitee Harris (Elkhart, Ind.) as the Lady Trailblazers held on to close out the 76-68 victory on their home floor.
"I think in the final four minutes of the game we handled the ball and handled their pressure, we were able to get to the free throw line and also able to make some shots around the basket," VU Hall of Fame Head Coach Harry Meeks said. "Trinitee Harris hit two big three's for us and that was big for us. Lincoln Trail is a good basketball team. They've got Zach Loll back coaching the team and he does a good job. They will continue to get better and better, just like I hope our team will as the season goes along."
"I thought we did a decent job defensively, but I didn't like giving up the screen and roll in the middle of the floor that they got several times," Meeks added. "It was a tough game. I congratulated the girls for hanging in there. We need to win this type of game because the league is going to be better this year, so we have to bring our best game when we play."
Vincennes was led offensively by Trinitee Harris who finished with 16 points on a perfect three of three shooting behind the arc, while also dishing out five assists on the night.
Freshman Kylee Shelton (Bloomfield, Ind.) came off the bench to set a new career-high with 14 points, 11 of which coming in the first half. Shelton also dished out three assists.
Sophomore Nina Blade (Milwaukee, Wis.) nearly finished with a double-double, ending with 10 points and seven rebounds on the night.
Sophomores Macy Michels (Teutopolis, Ill.) and Laila Grant (Derwood, Md.) ended the game with nine points each, with Michels adding a team-high eight rebounds and Grant finishing with six assists and five rebounds.
Freshman Candela Lascorz (Huesca, Spain) nearly had a double-double off the bench for the Blazers, ending with eight points and seven rebounds.
"I've been after our post players about blocking out," Meeks said. "Calling shot when the ball goes up and blocking somebody out, preferably on the weak side, so we can get the rebound. I thought that made a big difference in our rebounding. We started out slow with that, but as the game went along we got better at it. Rebounding is one of those things you have to want to do if you want to be a good player and I think we've got a couple of girls on this team that want to rebound. The way we rebounded the ball tonight really contributed to us getting this win."
The Lady Trailblazers will hit the road this weekend as they travel to Belleville, Ill. to take on Southwestern Illinois College Saturday, Dec. 4. Tip-off time Saturday is scheduled for 2 p.m. eastern.
"We're going to have to clean up some things," Meeks said. "I've practiced our team a lot of days here, but we're going to have to be able to continue to push the ball up the floor and be able to run our offense a little more efficiently. We're basically going to have to put a lot of pressure on the other team's defense and make them work. We have to avoid getting into foul trouble. We've got to work through that and continue to work hard. These girls are doing a good job."
VINCENNES BOX SCORE
VINCENNES (76): Nina Blade 2-3 6-6 10, Macy Michels 4-11 1-2 9, Trinitee Harris 6-9 1-2 16, Cherrelle Newsom 3-11 0-0 8, Laila Grant 4-13 0-2 9, Day'Lynn Thornton 1-6 0-0 2, Candela Lascorz 4-8 0-0 8, Elena Aznar 0-1 0-0 0, Guadalupe Lopez 0-1 0-0 0, Kylee Shelton 5-8 0-0 14, Team 29-71 8-12 76.
Lincoln Trail – 12 14 23 19 – 68
VU (6-4. 1-0) – 16 20 16 24 – 76
Three-point goals: VU 10 (Shelton 4, Harris 3, Newsom 2, Grant). Rebounds: VU 38 (Michels 8). Assists: VU 22 (Grant 6). Steals: VU 7 (Michels 2). Blocked shots: VU 3 (Michels, Harris, Shelton). Turnovers: VU 10. Personal Fouls: VU 25. Fouled out: Michels.