Lady Blazers fall in road Region showdown at No. 7 Wabash Valley

MT. CARMEL, Ill. – The Vincennes University Lady Trailblazers hit the road Saturday evening for a Region 24 road showdown with nearby rival No. 7-ranked Wabash Valley College

The Lady Blazers fought hard but came up on the wrong end of a 89-58 final score to the Lady Warriors.

This game was very close in the beginning, after the two teams traded five point runs, each team traded baskets for the rest of the opening quarter with the Lady Warriors holding a narrow lead at 19-15 after the first 10 minutes of action.

Wabash Valley made their first big run to try and expand the lead in the second quarter, using a 9-0 run to increase their lead to 36-23.

Vincennes would not go away however as the Lady Blazers were able to cut the deficit down to 10 before halftime, heading into the locker room at the break trailing the Lady Warriors 41-31.

Wabash Valley looked to gain full control of the game early in the third quarter, opening the second half by outscoring VU 13-4 before using another 16-4 scoring run to get their lead to 70-41.

Vincennes kept battling though, closing out the quarter with four straight points to head into the fourth quarter facing a 70-45 deficit.

Wabash Valley looked to put the game in cruise control early in the fourth quarter as the Lady Blazers offense slowed with some tired legs.

VU was able to get the offense going late, outscoring Wabash Valley 13-7 down the stretch but it was too little too late as the Lady Warriors closed out the 89-58 victory.

The Lady Trailblazers were led offensively by sophomore Marta Gutierrez (Alicante, Spain) who finished the game with 14 points, seven rebounds and four assists.

Freshman Emani Washington (Indianapolis, Ind.) got the long ball going early, hitting two of her three three-pointers in the first half on her way to 12 points, four rebounds and a pair of assists.

Freshman Netala Dixon (Dyersburg, Tenn.) was the third VU scorer in double figures Saturday night, coming off the bench to add 10 points, a team-high six assists and four rebounds.

Freshman Delora Pricop (Satu Mare, Romania) just missed out on another double-double, finishing her night with eight points and a team-high 11 rebounds, while also dishing out three assists.

The Lady Blazers will look to bounce back and get back in the win column when VU hits the road again Monday, Jan. 27 when Vincennes heads to Hillsboro, Mo. to take on Jefferson College at 6 p.m. eastern.

VINCENNES BOX SCORE

VINCENNES (58): Ahmya Thomas 3-7 0-1 6, Jazmyn Robey 3-6 0-0 6, Marta Gutierrez 4-14 5-6 14, Emani Washington 4-14 1-4 12, Delora Pricop 3-6 2-2 8, Yanni Huggins 1-3 0-0 2, Netala Dixon 4-88 2-3 10, Team 22-58 10-16 58.

Wabash Valley – 19   22   29   19 – 89

VU (10-11, 5-2) – 15   16   14   13 – 58

Three-point goals: VU 4 (Washington 3, Gutierrez). Rebounds: VU 35 (Pricop 11). Assists: VU 17 (Dixon 6). Steals: VU 7 (Thomas 3). Blocked Shots: VU 1 (Pricop). Turnovers: VU 24. Personal Fouls: VU 22. Fouled out: Thomas. Technical Fouls: Thomas (3rd – 55.6).