ANGOLA, Ind.-- The Trine women's basketball team battled No. 4 Hope tough all afternoon, but fell to the Dutch by a 65-61 margin in MIAA-action Saturday afternoon in Hershey Hall.
In a game that featured 15 ties and 12 lead changes, a 14-5 surge to open the fourth quarter by Hope gave the Flying Dutch just enough seperation to hold on at the end. Brandi Dawson (Garrett, Ind./Garrett) scored 21 points on 9-of-18 shooting pace the Thunder. The performance marked the second effort of 20-plus points for the sophomore this season. Elizabeth Perkins came off the bench to score 14 points to pace Hope. Trine fell to 11-6 overall, 4-5 in the MIAA. The Flying Dutch improved to 17-0 overall, 9-0 in conference play.
Taylor Cole (Mount Pleasant, Mich./Shepherd) came off the bench to fill the stat sheet with 10 points, seven rebounds and four assists for the Thunder. Alivia Recker (Arlington, Ohio/Arlington) added eight points, four boards and three assists.
Maura McAfee added a double-double with 12 points and 14 rebounds for Hope. McAfee has seven double-doubles this season. The Dutch held a 24-16 edge in points in the paint. Hope also scored 15 second-chance points to Trine's five.
Back-to-back threes by Montana Martin (Columbia City, Ind./Churubusco) and Whitney Shaffer (Tipton, Ind./Tri-Central) capped off the first quarter and gave the Thunder a 20-17 lead. Trine shot 58.3 percent (7-of-12) in the first 10 minutes. Shaffer scored six points in the opening quarter.
Hope opened up a five-point lead late in the second quarter, but Recker controlled a long inbounds pass and beat the buzzer with a three to cut the halftime deficit to 31-29.
Neither team led by more than three points in the third quarter as Trine held a 16-15 edge in the third stanza. Dawson contributed most of the offense for the Thunder, scoring 10 points of 4-of-5 shooting. Recker added five of her points in the quarter, including her second trey of the game.
Perkins took over in the fourth quarter for the Flying Dutch as Hope pushed its lead to 60-50 with 4:28 to play. Perkins scored 10 of her points in the final quarter. A 7-0 Thunder run, featuring five points by Ashley Elliott (Scottsburg, Ind./Scottsburg) cut the score to 60-57.
A pair of free throws by McAfee pushed the Hope lead back to five. Cole drew a foul at the other end and converted both free tosses to keep it a one-possession game. The two teams then traded buckets as Angelique Gaddy converted a layup, which was answered by a short jumper by Dawson.
Trine got a couple open looks at threes in the final 30 seconds, but neither were able to fall. Mandy Traversa split a pair of free throws with eight seconds left for the final 65-61 margin.
The Thunder return to action this Wednesday at Adrian. Tip-off is slated for 7:30 p.m.
