Lady Blazers pick up road Region 24 win with big first half scoring run

CARTERVILLE, Ill. – The Vincennes University Lady Trailblazers picked up a strong Region 24 road victory Wednesday night at John A. Logan College, defeating the host Lady Vols 81-62.

VU grabbed a big 31-point halftime lead over the Volunteers behind a 24-0 second quarter scoring run.

The Lady Blazers got off to a slow start, falling behind by five early in the first quarter, before battling back to end the first 10 minutes of play with a 17-16 lead.

Vincennes opened the second quarter with a bang on back-to-back three pointers by sophomore guards Kennadi Harris (Columbus, Ohio) and Cherrelle Newsom (Indianapolis, Ind.).

VU would really put the pedal down to close out the first half as the Lady Blazers scored 24 unanswered points to take a 51-20 lead into the locker room at the break.

Vincennes held the Lady Vols to just four points in the second quarter and outscored John A. Logan an outstanding 34-4 in the second quarter of play.

VU continued to add to their lead in the third quarter while also looking to run as much time off the clock as possible.

The Lady Blazers picked up their largest lead of the game at 32 points before John A. Logan closed out the quarter on a 7-1 scoring run to trail 66-40 heading into the final 10 minutes of play.

John A. Logan looked to complete a miracle comeback in the fourth quarter, using a 10-0 scoring run to get within 16 of the Blazers, but were ultimately unable to get any closer as VU closed out their third Region 24 win of the season by the final score of 81-62.

Vincennes was again playing short-handed Wednesday night with Hall of Fame Head Coach Harry Meeks using all eight players at his disposal against the Lady Vols.

Sophomore Nyre Williams (Indianapolis, Ind.) was the lead Blazers, nearly finishing with a double-double with 20 points and nine rebounds.

Sophomore Chanice Willis (Champaign, Ill.) finished with 15 points and team-high's six assists and four steals, to go along with seven rebounds.

Sophomore Cherrelle Newsom ended her night with 12 points, three assists and a pair of steals.

Sophomore guards Daylynn Thornton (Lafayette, Ind.) and Kennadi Harris closed out the VU starting lineup and double-figure scorers, finishing with 10 points each.

Thornton also picked up four steals and three assists, while Harris added five rebounds.

Freshman Brie Miller (Greencastle, Ind.) came off the bench to add seven points and nine rebounds, while also coming away with three steals defensively.

The Lady Blazers will look to continue this hot streak into the weekend when VU hits the road again, traveling to Champaign, Ill. to take on Parkland College Saturday, Dec. 17 at 2 p.m. eastern.

VINCENNES BOX SCORE

VINCENNES (81): Kennadi Harris 4-13 0-0 10, Cherrelle Newsom 4-10 1-2 12, Chanice Willis 6-14 2-4 15, Daylynn Thornton 3-7 3-8 10, Nyre Williams 7-16 6-8 20, Katrina Litte 2-6 2-2 7, Ra'Mya Milton 0-0 0-0 0, Brie Miller 3-6 1-2 7, Team 29-72 15-26 8.

VU (9-5, 3-1) – 17   34   15   15 – 81

John A. Logan – 16   4   20   22 – 62

Three-point goals: VU 8 (Newsom 3, Harris 2, Willis, Thornton, Litte). Rebounds: VU 38 (Williams 9, Miller 9). Assists: VU 19 (Willis 6). Steals: VU 14 (Willis 4, Thornton 4). Blocked shots: VU 0. Turnovers: VU 17. Personal Fouls: VU 21. Fouled out: Thornton.