ANGOLA, IND.-- Trine wore down Albion with superior depth and a shut-down defensive effort in a 78-58 victory over the Britons in MIAA-action Saturday afternoon in Hershey Hall.
The Thunder bench produced 37 points as 11 different players scored in the effort. A stout effort on the defensive end held Albion to 25 percent shooting (17-of-67), 15 percentage points below their season-average entering the contest. Kayla Dunn (Columbia City, Ind./Columbia City) and Alivia Recker (Arlington, Ohio/Arlington) led Trine in scoring as each player poured in 12 points. Each player also dished out two assists. The performance marked the third time Recker has reached double-digits off the bench this season. Trine improves to 8-4 overall, 3-1 in the MIAA. Albion falls to 7-5, 1-3 in conference play.
Nikky Moan (Greenwood, Ind./Center Grove) rounded out double-figure scorers, notching 10 points and eight rebounds for Trine. Moan connected on 5-of-8 of her field goal attempts. The Thunder shot 47 percent (27-of-57) from the field, and hit 90 percent (18-of-20) of their free throw attempts.
Darian Payne notched a double-double for Albion, scoring 12 points to go along with 11 rebounds. Erin Nelson notched a team-high 13 points, while Catie Neary added 12 points off the bench.
The Thunder never trailed in the contest, but Albion was able to keep things close until the closing minutes of the first half. A 7-0 run over the final 1:32 turned a one-point Trine lead into a 37-29 halftime cushion. Recker knocked down a three, while Moan and Ashley Elliott (Scottsburg, Ind./Scottsburg) added buckets to account for the scoring during the run.
A 9-3 start to the second half extended the run to 16-3 and gave the Thunder a 46-32 lead with 16:10 to play. Six different players scored during that stretch. Albion was never able to close to single-digits the rest of the way. A later 12-1 run effectively put the game out of reach.
Trine returns to action this Wednesday, Jan. 7 when they host Illinois Tech at 5 p.m in Hershey Hall.