Women's Basketball Beats Alma, 68-37

Women's Basketball Beats Alma, 68-37

ANGOLA, IND.  --  The Trine University women's basketball team extended its current win streak to five games with a 68-37 defeat of Alma (Mich.) College in a Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association game at the MTI Center.

The Thunder were led by senior Kayla Freeman (Battle Creek, Mich./Battle Creek Central) who scored a career-high 14 points while shooting 71.4 percent from the field (five-of-seven).  Fellow senior Hayley Martin (Auburn, Ind./DeKalb) also scored in double figures with 11 points to round out the Trine high scorers and also grabbed a team-high nine rebounds.

Trine (16-2, 8-1 MIAA) never trailed in the game and began the first quarter by jumping out to a 7-1 lead en route to leading by as many as eight points, 12-4, in the period following a layup by Freeman.  Alma (1-16, 0-9 MIAA) answered with a 5-1 mini scoring run to make it a four-point game, 13-9, with 22 seconds left.  The final points of the quarter were scored by Freeman on a three-point play that extended the margin to seven points, 16-9, after the first 10 minutes of action.

Trine recorded its first double-digit lead at the 7:46 mark of the second quarter with another three-point play, this time by junior Brandi Dawson (Garrett, Ind./Garrett), to make the score 23-11 in favor of the home team.  The Thunder continued to pull away and later increased their advantage to as many as 19 points, 36-17, with 48 seconds left in the half after a pair of freebies by Freeman.  Just before the clock hit zeros, the Scots converted a couple of free-throws to end the scoring, but Trine still lead 36-19 at the break.

After the intermission, the third quarter saw Trine outscore Alma, 21-8, and lead by 32 points that included a 12-2 run which ended in a triple by junior Shaely Duff (Greenfield, Ind./Mount Vernon) to make the score 55-23 with 2:15 to go in the frame.  Freshman Shay Herbert (Pinckney, Mich./Pinckney) capped the quarter with a jumper to set Trine up with a 57-27 lead heading into the final quarter.

Trine continued its dominant play in the fourth and maintained its 30-point edge for the majority of the quarter.  A bucket by senior Jade Abenth (Saginaw, Mich./Heritage) with 4:43 to go in the contest gave the Thunder their largest lead of the game of 34 points, 65-31, as Trine went on to win easily by the final score of 68-37.

Trine held Alma to just 24.0 percent shooting (12-of-50) for the game, including 10.0 percent (two-of-20) from three-point range.  The Scots had one player score in double figures in Emily Eldridge with 12 points.

The Thunder will travel to Grand Rapids, Mich. to take on Calvin (Mich.) College in the final MIAA regular-season matchup on Wednesday, Jan. 24.  The game is scheduled to start at 7:30 p.m.