OLIVET, MICH. -- The Trine University women's basketball team captured its eighth-straight victory with a 71-39 win against Olivet (Mich.) College in a Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association game at the Upton Center Gymnasium in Olivet, Mich.
The Trine defense held Olivet to 25.6 percent shooting for the game (11-of-43), including holding the Comets to a combined four made field goals in the second half. The Thunder also forced 28 turnovers that led to 29 points.
Individually, Trine had four players score in double figures led by senior Katy Steers (Portage, Ind./Portage) with a game-high 12 points on three-of-seven shooting (42.9 percent) and was six-of-eight (75.0 percent) at the free-throw line. She also grabbed five rebounds and had five steals. Freshman Sophie Sloneker (Monroe, Ohio/Monroe) was second in scoring with 11 points.
The duo of sophomore Kelsy Taylor (Louisville, Ky./New Albany) and freshman Sam Underhill (Grand Rapids, Mich./Northview) both had 10 points to complete the list of double-figure scorers. Taylor also had a game-high eight rebounds to go along with her 10 points.
Olivet (4-16, 1-10 MIAA) led by four points early, 8-4, until a three-pointer by sophomore Tara Bieniewicz (Chesterfield, Mich./Dakota) sparked a ensuing 11-0 scoring run that put the Thunder ahead on the scoreboard with a five-point advantage, 13-8, with under two minutes to go in the first quarter. The lead change was the only one of the game as Trine (16-4, 10-1 MIAA) led by three points, 15-12, heading into the second quarter.
Trine began to expand its lead in quarter number two as the Thunder outscored the Comets, 19-8, in the period. Olivet made it a three-point game at the 5:24 mark, 23-20, when another scoring run by Trine, this time an 11-0 spurt, to end the half put the Thunder out in front by 14 points at the intermission, 34-20.
The third quarter began with an Olivet three-pointer, but was answered by eight straight Trine points that made it a 19-point contest at the 6:16 mark following a layup by Taylor. Trine posted its first 20-point lead with just over two-and-a-half minutes to go on a layup by sophomore Rachel Stewart (Pekin, Ind./Eastern) that made the score, 50-29. The period ended with a pair of buckets by Sophie Sloneker and a layup by Underhill and resulted in Trine's largest lead of the game to that point of 25 points by a score of 56-31 after 30 minutes.
Trine held Olivet to eight points in the final period and increased its lead to the largest of the game of 32 points that was aided by an 11-0 run that began with a Taylor jumper at 7:41 and ended with a triple by sophomore Natalee Kunse (Clare, Mich./Clare) to end the scoring in the game as the Thunder cruised to the 71-39 final.
Trine is scheduled to host Alma (Mich.) College on Wednesday, Feb. 5 in MIAA action at the MTI Center. The two teams are set to square off at 7:30 p.m.