ANGOLA, Ind.—No. 7 Hope College took advantage of a fourth quarter surge to defeat No. 24 Trine women's basketball, 76-65, on Wednesday night in Hershey Hall. Sophomore Brandi Dawson scored a career-high 33 points for the Thunder.
Hope improves to 16-1 overall and 8-0 in the Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association. Trine moves to 14-2 and 7-1 in the MIAA.
Dawson's 33 points is the fourth most points in a game in team history by a Trine player. Her 12 made field goals tied for sixth in a game in the record books.
Hope took a quick four-point lead to open the game. Brandi Dawson (Garrett, Ind./Garrett) put the Thunder on the board with a layup. Senior Taylor Cole (Mt. Pleasant, Mich./Shepherd) stole the ball and with a long pass, Dawson tied the game at four all. The Flying Dutch and the Thunder traded points. Katy Steers (Portage, Ind./Portage) stole the ball and Dawson went down to score giving Trine its first lead of the game. Steers followed with a layup of her own to increase Trine's advantage to four. The Thunder offense continued to impress taking a 14-8 lead. Hayley Martin (Auburn, Ind./DeKalb) had a huge block on a Flying Dutch shot and passed the ball down to Dawson, who scored again to put the Thunder up by eight. Hope rallied back to come within one point of the Thunder at the end of the first quarter. Dawson totaled 12 points for Trine. Hope was led by Paris Madison with five points.
Dawson added two more field goals to start the second quarter and put the Thunder up 23-18. Hope came within a point at 25-24 and took the lead with a three pointer. The Flying Dutch went on a 10-point run to grab a nine-point lead. The Thunder took advantage of foul trouble by Hope and came within four points heading into half time. Dawson had 20 points after two quarters and was perfect from the field and at the free throw line.
Dawson added six more points in the third quarter to tie the game at 41 all. The two teams traded points back and forth. The Thunder tied the game up two more times before Hope took a four-point lead going into the fourth quarter.
Martin opened the fourth quarter with a layup to put Trine within two points. Hope offense surged ahead to go on a 14 point run. The advantage proved to be too much for the Thunder to overcome.
Dawson totaled 33 points for the Thunder and added six rebounds and three assists. Ashley Elliott (Scottsburg, Ind./Scottsburg) notched a season-high 15 points with six rebounds. Martin added 10 points and seven rebounds. Cole grabbed six assists and a game-high eight rebounds. Cole added three steals to move in a tie for eighth place in the Trine career record books.
Hope was led by Tyra Smith with 14 points. Madison Geers and Mandy Traversa each added 13 points, while Francesca Buchanan totaled 11. Buchanan also added a team-high six rebounds and had three steals.
The Thunder will return to action on Saturday when it will travel to Olivet for a 3 p.m. game.
