ANGOLA, IND.-- Trine defeated Heidelberg, 68-61, in non-conference action Wednesday evening in Hershey to extend their winning-streak to six games.
The win gives the Thunder six-consecutive victories for the first-time since the 2011-12 team opened the season on a six-game run. Kayla Dunn (Columbia City, Ind./Columbia City) led four Trine players in double-figures, tying a career-high with 18 points on 7-of-14 shooting. Nikky Moan (Greenwood, Ind./Center Grove) notched her second double-double of the season, scoring 11 points to go along with 10 rebounds. The senior added six rebounds and three steals. Carli Patrick scored 15 points and grabbed 16 rebounds to lead Heidelberg. The Thunder improve to 6-1 on the season. Heidelberg falls to 1-5.
Kelsey Henselmeier (Martinsville, Ind./Martinsville) added 13 points for Trine. Ashley Elliott (Scottsburg, Ind./Scottsburg) provided a big lift off the bench, scoring a career-high 11 points. She knocked down all seven of her free throw attempts. The Thunder held a 34-20 edge in points in the paint, and scored 29 points off 27 Student Prince turnovers.
Theresa Jackson came off the bench to score 16 points on 6-of-10 shooting for Heidelberg. Shelby Dearth scored nine points off the bench. The Student Prince bench contributed 33 points to 19 for their Trine counterparts.
Neither team led by more than 10 over the first 25 minutes of action. After an Allie Hawkins three broke a 36-all tie, the Thunder answered with an eight-point run to take a lead they would not relinquish. Emily Whiteleather (Columbia City, Ind./Columbia City) started the run with a pair of made free throws. A layup by Alivia Recker (Arlington, Ohio/Arlington) put Trine ahead at 40-39. Recker scored eight points off the bench for Trine.
Elliott got to the line and knocked down a pair of free throws to extend the lead to three, before Recker knocked down a short jumper to make the score 44-39 with 12:37 to play. The Thunder pushed that lead to 49-42 on an old-fashioned three-point play by Elliott with 11:22 remaining.
The Student Princes closed within 63-60 with a minute left, but the Thunder knocked down 5-of-6 from the line while forcing a couple of empty possessions to close out the victory.
Trine will face quite possibly their toughest test of the young season when they travel to Calvin to face the 17th-ranked Knights this Saturday, Dec. 13. Tip-off at Van Noord Arena is slated for 3 p.m.