Lady Trailblazers fall to No. 13 Moberly Area in first game back from Holiday break

VINCENNES, Ind. – The VU Lady Trailblazers hosted the No. 13-ranked Moberly Area Greyhounds Tuesday night in VU's first game back from the Holiday break.

Vincennes was unable to overcome a slow start in the first quarter as the Greyhounds came away with the 76-59 win over VU.

The Lady Blazers held strong in the opening minutes of the game, keeping the margin within a basket with the No. 13-ranked Greyhounds.

Moberly Area would close out the first quarter on a 9-2 scoring run to expand the lead to nine points after the first 10 minutes of play.

The Greyhounds would not allow Vincennes to cut into the deficit in the second quarter, as the Moberly lead held near 10 points for the entire quarter.

Vincennes went into the halftime break trailing the Greyhounds 38-27.

VU was able to make a run early in the second half however, as an 8-0 scoring run by the Lady Blazers cut the deficit to just five points late in the third quarter.

Moberly Area was able to add a basket to end the period as Vincennes faced a seven-point deficit heading into the final 10 minutes of play.

The Greyhounds looked strong to begin the fourth quarter, using a 9-0 scoring run to expand the lead to 16 points which helped ultimately put the game away.

Vincennes attempted to get back into the game, but the margin was too much as Moberly Area finished off the 76-59 win over the Lady Trailblazers.

"I didn't think we were ready to play," VU Hall of Fame Head Coach Harry Meeks said. "I thought we have been working them hard enough to get to where we needed to be tonight, but it didn't look like that at all. We looked like we were a step slow the entire game. Our execution, no matter what we tried to do, was not the best. We looked like a team that had been off a month."

"I am very disappointed in the way we played," Meeks added. "I don't think that anybody on the team played up to their ability. Us coaches on the bench were very frustrated that we couldn't run our offense any better than what we did."

"In the first half, Moberly just ran the ball down our throats and we didn't comeback and respond. That's basically how we lost the first half. We weren't able to run our offense and we weren't able to run our press breaker when it was there. We're just going to have to get better than that, not just in one phase of the game, but in every phase of the game. I was extremely disappointed in how we played and I think our girls were disappointed in themselves that they didn't play any better than what we played."

"We'll go back to work tomorrow and see if we can get any better before our next game."

VU was led offensively by freshman Cherrelle Newsom (Indianapolis, Ind.) and sophomore Macy Michels (Teutopolis, Ill.) who each finished with 14 points.

Newsom finished with all four of VU's makes from behind the three-point arc, while also adding a pair of rebounds.

Michels played a tough, physical game in the post on her way to 14 points and a team-high five rebounds.

"Macy puts it all out there for you every game," Meeks said. "She plays hard, scores around the basket and does what we need to have done. For her to play better, we need to block out more and be quicker blocking out."

"I thought Macy did an outstanding job for us," Meeks added. "She, by far, played the best out of anyone on our basketball team tonight."

Freshmen Trinitee Harris (Elkhart, Ind.) and Day'Lynn Thornton (Lafayette, Ind.) reached double-figures with 10 points and five rebounds each.

Harris would also led the Trailblazers with three assists and three steals on the night.

Freshman Candela Lascorz (Huesca, Spain) came off the bench to add eight points, three rebounds and a pair of steals for the blue and gold.

Vincennes will have more than a week to prepare for their next game when the Lady Blazers travel to Olney, Ill. to face-off with Region 24 opponent Olney Central Wednesday, Jan. 12. Tip-off time is 6 p.m. eastern.

"The last time we faced Olney Central last year they beat us," Meeks said. "That may have been my first loss ever to them. We've been able to handle them in the past, but they have a good program and Clint has some good players over there. If we walk on to the floor there like we did here today, we will get beat."

"We know that when we go to Olney Central we have to have everything in gear on our end," Meeks added. "Because they are going to play hard and they are going to push the ball. They are a physical basketball team and we've got to counter that with the same type of play."

"We are going to have to play better. We will have to play harder and we have to understand what our team is trying to do. We are going to have to straighten some things out. Our conditioning is not where it needs to be and we are going to have to work really hard on getting some conditioning done. We also have to change our attitudes to what we are trying to do with the basketball and play at a higher level than what we have been playing."

VINCENNES BOX SCORE

VINCENNES (59): Anete Bluma 1-5 0-0 2, Macy Michels 6-11 2-2 14, Trinitee Harris 3-14 4-4 10, Day'Lynn Thornton 4-13 2-4 10, Cherrelle Newsom 5-8 0-0 14, Chanice Willis 0-6 0-0 0, Candela Lascorz 4-8 0-1 8, Elena Aznar 0-0 1-2 1, Guadalupe Lopez 0-1 0-0 0, Kylee Shelton 0-0 0-0 0, Cristina Requejo 0-0 0-0 0, Team 23-66 9-13 59.

Moberly Area – 22  16  16  22 – 76

VU (11-6, 4-1) – 13  14  20  12 – 59

Three-point goals: VU 4 (Newsom 4). Rebounds: VU 31 (Michels 5, Harris 5, Thornton 5). Assists: VU 12 (Harris 3). Steals: VU 8 (Harris 3). Blocked shots: VU 3 (Bluma, Thornton, Lascorz). Turnovers: VU 20. Personal Fouls: VU 20. Fouled out: Michels.