ANGOLA, Ind. - On a night where defense would play a key role, the Trine University women’s basketball team let a first half lead slip away, falling to Franklin College 53-45. The Thunder suffered their first loss of the season and drop to 2-1.
The Thunder defense held the Grizzlies scoreless through the first six minutes of the game before Franklin would score on a pair of free throws at 14:49, however the Thunder had scored just four points of their own at that point. The Thunder would push their lead to a game-high nine at 19-10 on a layup by sophomore Kelsey Henselmeier (Martinsville, Ind./Martinsville) with six minutes to play. Franklin would score just before the end of the half as Trine led 22-19 at the break.
The two sides would trade a pair of free throws to start the half before the Grizzlies tied the game for the first time at 24. After trading a pair of baskets, Franklin would take their first lead of the game at 28-26. The two teams would then trade baskets for the next 10 minutes as they traded leads five times. The game would slowly slip away from the Thunder as they made just one basket in the final six minutes of the game as Franklin tallied two buckets and seven free throws.
Henselmeier led the Thunder with a game-high 13 points and picking up five rebounds. Seniors Sydney Spragg (Reading, Mich./Reading) and Megan Loveberry (Quincy, Mich./Quincy) each added in nine points. Spragg led the Thunder with a game-high five steals while grabbing five rebounds and making two blocks. Loveberry led the team with six boards while making three steals.
The biggest difference on the night came at the charity stripe as Franklin converted 22-of-30 attempts while the Thunder made just 7-of-10. For the game Trine shot 18-of-59 (30.5%) from the floor while Franklin made 15-of-48 (31.3%). The Grizzlies also out-rebounded the Thunder 47-to-31.
Trine will travel to Anderson (IN) for a non-conference game on November 24 for a 3:00 p.m. tip.