Short-handed Lady Blazers fall at Olney Central

OLNEY, Ill. – The Vincennes University Lady Trailblazers were hit with a few injuries this week heading into their Region 24 showdown at Olney Central Saturday.

The Lady Blazers only had eight active players against the Lady Knights but fell at the end by the final score of 72-69.

Vincennes fell behind early against host OCC, trailing by as many as six in the opening quarter, before rallying back late to cut the deficit to just one point after the first.

VU came out in the second quarter looking to grab control of the game and used a 6-0 scoring run to take a five-point lead.

The Lady Knights would not go away though as Olney hit a three at the buzzer to even the score at 38-38 at the halftime break.

Vincennes again looked to take control early in the third quarter, building their largest lead of the game at 48-42 and held on to close out the quarter and head into the fourth with a 53-47 lead.

Olney Central began to slowly chip away at this VU lead in the fourth and were able to grab the lead back at 67-66 with under two minutes to play.

VU would keep after it, tying the game at 69-69 before the Lady Knights raced down the floor and were fouled with 3.2 second on the clock.

Olney Central hit one of their free throws, giving the Blazers a chance to take the lead at the end.

Vincennes drew up a play in the timeout to get a shot at the buzzer but were unable to get a shot off after a questionable turnover call gave the Blue Knights the ball back.

Olney Central got the ball inbounds and iced the game at the free throw line as Vincennes suffered their first Region 24 loss of the season by the final score of 72-69.

The Lady Blazers were led offensively by freshman Katrina Litte (Valmiera, Latvia) who finished with 15 points and a team-high three assists off the bench.

Sophomore Cherrelle Newsom (Indianapolis, Ind.) reached double-figures to finish with 14 points with a pair of rebounds, assists and steals.

Sophomore Daylynn Thornton (Lafayette, Ind.) played a really tough game on her way to 12 points, a team-high six steals, five rebounds and matching Litte with three assists.

Freshman Elikya Baseyila (Paris, France) recorded her fourth double-double of the season while missing most of the third quarter. Baseyila ended with 10 points and a team-high 10 rebounds.

Freshman Maycee Lange (Vincennes, Ind.) finished with nine points and six rebounds, while sophomore Chanice Willis (Champaign, Ill.) came off the bench to add seven points, five rebounds and five assists.

The Lady Blazers will continue their Region 24 schedule next week when VU hosts Shawnee Community College at the Physical Education Complex Wednesday, Dec. 7. Tip-off time for the Lady Blazers is set for 5 p.m. eastern.

VINCENNES BOX SCORE

VINCENNES (69): Cherrelle Newsom 3-8 6-6 14, Daylynn Thornton 4-9 4-4 12, Brie Miller 0-5 0-0 0, Elikya Baseyila 4-9 2-4 10, Maycee Lange 3-9 3-6 9, Chanice Willis 3-8 0-0 7, Nyre Williams 1-3 0-0 2, Katrina Litte 6-12 0-0 15, Team 24-63 15-20 69.

VU (7-4, 1-1) – 23   15   15   16 – 69

Olney Central – 24   14   9   25 – 72

Three-point goals: VU 6 (Litte 3, Newsom 2, Willis). Rebounds: VU 34 (Baseyila 10). Assists: VU 10 (Little 3, Thornton 3). Steals: VU 16 (Thornton 6). Blocked shots: VU 1 (Willis). Turnovers: VU 22. Personal Fouls: VU 25. Fouled out: Willis, Williams.