ANGOLA, Ind. - In their final home game of 2012, the Trine University women’s basketball team used a first half lead to hold on to a 64-54 win over Edgewood (WI) College. The win improves the Thunder to 7-4 on the season.
After trading baskets to begin the game, the Thunder led 10-8 at the 12:29 mark. From there the Thunder slowly began to pull away as they built to their largest lead of the game 29-15 with 4:44 to play in the half. The Eagles would score eight straight points to close the gap to six. Trine would close the half out with the final four points to take a 33-23 lead at the break.
Trine would continue to hold roughly a 10 point lead through most of the early second half. With 4:43 left in the game, the Thunder led 54-43 but Edgewood would try to close the gap. Leading by just six with under two minutes to play, sophomore Kelsey Henselmeier (Martinsville, Ind./Martinsville) would be fouled while making a layup and convert on the ensuing free throw to cement the win. The Thunder would hold the Eagles to just one basket and a free throw in the finals minutes to close out the game.
Henselmeier led all players with a season-high 14 points, eight of which came from the charity stripe. Senior Sydney Spragg (Reading, Mich./Reading) scored in double-digits for the 10th time this season, adding in 12 points and a game-high three steals. Fellow senior Haley Killingbeck (Poneto, Ind./Southern Wells) scored 11 points on the night while grabbing a team-high seven rebounds and also making three steals. Killingbeck also swatted away a single-game school record seven shots.
Junior Megan Loveberry (Quincy, Mich./Quincy) also grabbed seven rebounds and three steals while junior Lauren Tait (Syracuse, Ind./Wawasee) led the Thunder with a game-high three assists.
Edgewood employed a full-court press for most of the game, but the Thunder used that to their advantage, scoring 14 points off the fast break. The Eagles attempted a season-high 71 shots, but the Thunder defense allowed just 20 Edgewood field goals. Trine attempted and made a season-high 23-of-34 from the free throw line on the night. As a team, the Thunder also made a season-high 11 blocks, which also set a single-game record.
The Thunder will wrap up their 2012 year when they travel to Indiana Tech for the SportONE Shootout beginning on December 29 when they face Spring Arbor at 6:00 p.m.