ANGOLA, IND. -- Junior Montana Martin (Columbia City, Ind./Churubusco) connected on a go-ahead three-pointer, her only made three-pointer of the day, with five seconds to go in the game which led to a 50-47 win against Calvin (Mich.) College in a Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association game at Hershey Hall.
Montana Martin's triple gave her 10 total points in the game and was one of three Trine players to score in double figures. Junior Brandi Dawson (Garrett, Ind./Garrett) led the Thunder in scoring with 15 points on seven-of-eight shooting (87.5 percent). Senior Haley Martin (Auburn, Ind./DeKalb) rounded out the high scorers with 14 points.
As a team, Trine shot 42.2 percent overall (19-of-45) and 72.7 percent (eight-of-11) at the free-throw line.
The two teams combined for 38 turnovers in the game (21-Calvin; 17-Trine) with seven of those turnovers for Trine coming in the first quarter which allowed Calvin to outscore the home team, 13-5, in the first 10 minutes. Calvin (4-4, 1-1 MIAA) jumped out to an eight-point lead, 11-3, at the 5:47 mark to take control early. The two teams swapped baskets the rest of the way in the first period with Trine's (9-0, 3-0 MIAA) bucket coming off the hands of Hayley Martin, but the Knights maintained their eight-point advantage, 13-5, heading into the second quarter.
Calvin scored the first points of the second period to lead by 10 points, 15-5. Trine then went on an 11-2 scoring run that ended in a layup by junior Cassidy Williams (Archbold, Ohio/Archbold) to make it a one-point game, 17-16, with 4:51 to go in the half. The Knights scored five quick points to go up by six points, but the Thunder answered with five consecutive points of their own thanks to a three-point play by Williams and a layup by Dawson to pull back to within a point, 22-21, with under three minutes to go. Calvin's offense then took momentum back with an 8-0 run to end the quarter to lead 30-21 at halftime.
The third quarter saw the Knights increase their lead to 14 points early, 37-23, and led by double digits for the majority of the period. Just before the end of the quarter, Trine cut the deficit to single figures with a three-point play by Montana Martin to make it a 39-30 game heading into the fourth quarter.
Trine outscored Calvin, 20-8, in the final quarter which began with 9-2 Thunder run to pull the home team to within two points, 41-39, with 7:34 left to play following a triple by Haley Martin. Calvin responded with four straight points to go up by six points, 45-39, but Trine answered again with another tre by Haley Martin, followed by a jumper by Dawson to make the score 45-44 at the 3:13 mark. Trine eventually worked its way back to tie the game at 47-47 with under a minute to go thanks to another bucket by Dawson. After a missed shot attempt by the Knights, the Thunder took the lead on Montana Martin's three-pointer with five seconds to go. The game then ended on a Calvin turnover, sealing the 50-47 victory for Trine.
The Thunder will travel to Tiffin, Ohio for a non-conference game against Heidelberg University on Monday, Dec. 18. The game is scheduled to begin at 6 p.m.