ANDERSON, Ind.-- The Trine women's basketball team rallied back from a double-digit fourth quarter deficit, but were unable to outlast North Park as the Vikings earned a 75-71 victory in double-overtime Saturday evening in O.C. Lewis Gymnasium.
The Thunder trailed by 12 in the fourth quarter but were able to rally back to extend the game. After the two teams battled to a draw in the first overtime stanza, North Park was able to seal the victory by scoring the final five points of the second OT to win the tournament championship. Hayley Martin (Auburn, Ind./DeKalb) put together a monster game for Trine, scoring a career-high 27 points, grabbing eight rebounds and blocking three shots. Liz Rehberger scored 29 points and added nine rebounds to lead the Vikings. Trine fell to 2-1 overall, while North Park improved to 3-0.
Brandi Dawson (Garrett, Ind./Garrett) filled the stat sheet with 11 points, eight rebounds and two blocks. The sophomore was named to the All-Tournament team after averaging 15 points, eight rebounds and three assists over the last two games. Whitney Shaffer (Tipton, Ind./Tri-Central) poured in a season-high 18 points, knocking down five three-point attempts in the process.
Things were looking bleak for Trine as they faced a 55-43 deficit with 7:21 to play, but a 12-0 run got the Thunder right back in it. Back-to-back threes by Dawson and Shaffer started the run, with Dawson and Alivia Recker (Arlington, Ohio/Arlington) hitting layups to pull the deficit to two. A driving layup by Taylor Cole (Mount Pleasant, Mich./Shepherd) tied the score with 3:14 to play.
A Martin layup gave the Thunder a 60-59 lead with 22 seconds to play. After a stop Trine split a pair of free throws, but Roman Soly drove the length of the court off the miss for a layup to send the game to overtime.
A turnaround by Martin gave the Thunder the biggest lead either team would see in the first overtime, as her bucket made the score 68-66 with 2:18 to play. Soly answered with a layup to tie the score. Neither team was able to score the rest of the OT period and the game was once again extended.
A layup-and-one by Martin gave Trine a 71-70 lead with 3:18 to play in the second overtime, but that was all the points the Thunder would get in the period. The Vikings hit three free throws to take a two-point lead and another layup by Soly made the score 75-71 with 28 seconds left. Trine was unable to get a shot up and the Vikings earned the victory.
Soly scored eight points for the Vikings, seven of which came in the fourth quarter and overtime. Martin scored 12 of her points in the fourth quarter or later for the Thunder.
Trine will host Anderson next Saturday, Nov. 28 at 1 p.m. in Hershey Hall.