NORTH MANCHESTER, IND.— Manchester's strength inside proved to be too much for Trine's women's basketball team to overcome, as the Thunder dropped a 57-41 decision to the Spartans in a non-conference tilt Monday evening at Stauffer-Wolfe Arena.
Manchester held a 26-12 advantage in scoring in the paint. The Spartans grabbed 14 offensive rebounds, which led to a 15-2 edge in second-chance points. Leading the way for Manchester was Abby Lang and Erynn Meiklejohn with 11 points-apiece. Megan Engle (Parker City, Ind.) scored a season-high 11 points on 4-of-10 shooting, while Amy Newell (Three Rivers, Mich.) added 11 points and nine rebounds to lead Trine. The Thunder fall to 1-7 on the season. Manchester collected their fourth-straight win and improved to 5-3 overall.
Kelsey Henselmeier (Martinsville, Ind.) filled the stat sheet with eight points, seven rebounds and four assists for Trine. Trine shot 25 percent on the evening (13-of-53) and connected on 14-of-19 free throws (74 percent).
Six players scored six or more points for Manchester. Justine Kruger notched nine points, eight rebound and five assists. Alyssa Smith contributed seven points and eight boards, while Jocelyn Hamilton and Alyssa Hammond added six points apiece. The Spartans shot 34 percent from the field (22-of-64),
The two teams traded buckets the first seven-plus minutes of the game. Newell scored four points, while Engle, Henselmeier and Alivia Recker (Arlington, Ohio) each added two points for Trine as the teams were knotted at 10-apiece at the 12:43 mark.
Manchester opened up the game with an 8-1 run to take the lead for good over the following 1:30. Katie Arterburn scored all five of her points during that stretch, while Smith added a three. The Spartans held Trine without a field goal for a shade under eight minutes to help Manchester take a 25-17 lead into the half. Lang scored nine of her points in the first half to pace MU.
The pace picked up early in the second half, with each team finding a groove offensively in the early minutes. Manchester led by as much as 11 in the opening minutes on a layup by Meiklejohn. The Thunder pulled as close as six twice, once on a three by Engle and later on a jumper by Engle that cut the score to 36-30 with 15:49 to play.
That was as close as Trine would get the rest of the way however, as Manchester clamped down on defense and went on a 12-4 run over the next seven-plus minutes of play. The Spartans scored 11 second-chance points in the second half to spark the victory.
Trine will continue non-conference play this Wednesday, Dec. 18 when they travel to Defiance. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:00 p.m.