ANGOLA, IND. -- Junior Shay Herbert (Pinckney, Mich./Pinckney) and sophomore Tara Bieniewicz (Chesterfield, Mich./Dakota) both scored 11 points to lead the Trine University women's basketball team to a 70-40 win against Marietta (Ohio) College in the season opener at the MTI Center as part of the Trine Classic.
Trine (1-0) shot 47.3 percent (26-of-55) for the game and held Marietta (0-1) to just 24.5 percent shooting (13-of-53), including 18.2 percent (four-of-22) from three-point range.
Herbert went four-of-six (66.7 percent) and was three-of-five (60.0 percent) at the free-throw line. She was also one of three Trine players to grab a game-tying high seven boards in addition to having three blocked shots. Bieniewicz finished four-of-nine (44.4 percent) overall and three-of-five (60.0 percent) at the charity stripe.
Senior Katy Steers (Portage, Ind./Portage) joined Herbert along with sophomore Kelsy Taylor (Louisville, Ky./New Albany) with seven rebounds each. Steers also added nine points to go along with a game-high seven assists and Taylor chipped in with eight points to go along with her seven boards. Fellow sophomore Kayla Wildman (Rockford, Mich./Rockford) tied Taylor with eight points to round out the leading scorers for the Thunder.
In the first quarter, the Thunder jumped out to 5-0 lead before the Pioneers got on the scoreboard with a three-pointer at the 5:46 mark. Trine then went on a 4-1 mini run to lead by six points with just over two minutes left following a layup by Bieniewicz. The Thunder maintained its six-point edge after the first 10 minutes of play with a score of 13-7 heading into the second period.
Trine began to separate itself from its opponent in the second quarter as the Thunder outscored the Pioneers, 16-9. Steers opened the scoring with a jumper that put Trine out in front by eight points, 15-7, who later recorded its first double-digit lead with 5:26 to play in the half thanks to a pair of free-throws by freshman Sam Underhill (Grand Rapids, Mich./Northview) that made it a 19-8 contest. Marietta pulled to within nine points late in the frame, but a layup by Underhill followed by a jumper by sophomore Rachel Stewart (Pekin, Ind./Eastern) with under 30 seconds remaining, gave Trine its largest lead of the game to that point of 13 points with a halftime score of 29-16.
Coming out of the locker rooms, Trine continued to take control and added to its streak of four points that concluded the first half with eight straight points to start the third quarter that included back-to-back triples by Herbert and Bieniewicz en route to a 21-point margin, 37-16, with 8:25 left in the period. The Thunder went on to lead by as many as 23 points on two occasions with the last one coming at the 1:12 mark on a three-pointer by sophomore Kaylee Argyle (Freeland, Mich./Freeland) an had a 51-31 advantage after three quarters.
The fourth quarter began with Trine scoring seven unanswered points to inflate the lead to 27 points, 58-31, and ended in a three-pointer by Wildman. Trine maintained its 20-point dominance the remainder of the game and posted its largest lead of the game of 30 points with the final score of 70-40 that was the result of a tre by freshman Alysaa Argyle (Freeland, Mich./Freeland) with nine seconds left.
Trine will return to action tomorrow when it hosts Ohio Wesleyan University to conclude the Trine Classic at 7 p.m. at the MTI Center.