ANGOLA, IND. -- The Trine University women's basketball team outscored Oberlin (Ohio) College, 37-14, in the second half to help finish with a 63-31 victory against the Yeowomen in non-conference action at the MTI Center in Angola, Ind.
Trine had a balanced offensive attack as the Thunder did not have anyone score in double figures. Sophomores Kayla Wildman (Rockford, Mich./Rockford), Sophia Kreag (Westfield, Ind./Westfield) and senior Katy Steers (Portage, Ind./Portage) all scored nine points to lead the Thunder in scoring. All nine of Kreag's points came from behind the arc as she connected on all three of her attempts from long range. Steers was also perfect from the floor, going four-of-four with one of her made shots being a triple. Wildman finished three-of-nine (33.3 percent) from the field, including a three-pointer, and grabbed five rebounds.
Additionally, sophomore Kelsey Taylor (Louisville, Ky./New Albany) led all players in rebounding with a game-high eight boards.
The Trine (2-1) offense got off to a slow start to begin the game as Oberlin (1-3) led by four points on two occasions with the last one being a 9-5 advantage nearing the midway point of the first quarter. A jumper by sophomore Kaylee Argyle (Freeland, Mich./Freeland) sparked an ensuing 9-0 scoring run to put the Thunder out in front by five points, 14-5, with 14 seconds left and maintained a three-point edge after the first 10 minutes, 14-11.
Neither team recorded points until the six-minute mark of the second period when sophomore Tara Bieniewicz (Chesterfield, Mich./Dakota) and junior Jaycee Perrett (Wabash, Ind./Wabash) connected on jumpers that was followed by one-of-two free-throws by Kaylee Argyle to put the Thunder out ahead by eight points, 19-11, with 4:11 to play in the half. Oberlin then battled back to within four points, 20-16, before six straight points by Trine resulted in its first double-digit lead of the day, 26-16. The final points of the half were tallied by the Yeowomen with one-of-two free-throws that made it a 26-17 game at the intermission.
The third quarter began with Trine scoring 11 straight points and ended in a triple, followed by a layup by Steers that extended the margin to its highest of the game so far of 17 points, 37-20, at the 3:57 mark. Oberlin then went on a 7-0 run of its own to get back to within striking distance, 37-27, with a minute remaining in the period. The remaining points scored in the quarter came off the fingertips of Trine players as Wildman and junior Shay Herbert (Pinckney, Mich./Pinckney) both hit triples to send the home team to the fourth quarter with a 16-point advantage, 43-27.
Trine continued its scoring streak as well as its string of successful shots from three-point range as the final period started off with back-to-back-to-back triples by Kreag which also gave Trine its first 20-point lead of the game en route to a 25-point margin, 52-27, with a little under seven minutes left. The lead never dropped below the 20-point plateau the rest of the way and the Thunder posted its largest lead of the contest of 32 points with a final score of 63-31 following a jumper by fresman Alexa Porter (Goshen, Ind./Concord) with 10 seconds on the clock.
Trine will play its next six games away from the MTI Center starting with a trip to Chicago, Ill. to take part in the two-day University of Chicago Tournament beginning on Friday, Nov. 22. The Thunder will take on host school Chicago on Friday with tip-off scheduled for 7:30 p.m. EST.