WHITEWATER, WIS. -- For the second time in the past four years, the Trine University women's basketball team advances to the "Sweet 16" following a 69-49 win against the University of Redlands (Calif.) in a second round game of the NCAA Division III National Tournament in Whitewater, Wis.
Three players scored in double figures for Trine led by senior Katy Steers (Portage, Ind./Portage) who had a game-high 23 points on eight-of-12 shooting (66.7 percent), including six-of-nine (66.7 percent) from three-point range. In addition, Steers finished second on the team in rebounding with eight boards.
For the second straight game, sophomore Kelsy Taylor (Louisville, Ky./New Albany) finished with a double-double with 10 points and a game-tying high 10 rebounds.
Sophomore Kayla Wildman (Rockford, Mich./Rockford) rounded out the high scorers and was second overall on the team in scoring with 15 points.
Trine (23-6) scored the first five points of the first quarter thanks to a jumper by Taylor and a three-pointer by Steers. Redlands (22-7) then scored three straight baskets to take a one-point lead, 6-5, with just over seven minutes to play in the frame. The Thunder answered the Bulldogs scoring run with a run of their own that started with seven unanswered points as part of a larger 9-2 run that put Trine out in front by six points, 12-6, at the 5:31 mark. Redlands battled back to within a point later in the period, but Trine wouldn't surrender the lead and rebuilt a six-point advantage by the end of the quarter to lead, 21-15, after the first 10 minutes.
The second quarter scoring began with one-of-two free-throws by Taylor and was followed by a layup by Wildman that gave Trine a nine-point lead early, 24-15. Redlands then scored six straight points to make it a three-point game, 24-21, and would eventually take a one-point lead with under two-and-a-half minutes left in the half by a score of 31-30. Another layup by Wildman regained the lead for the Thunder with under a minute to go, but the Bulldogs tied the game before the half expired on one-of-two free-throws deadlocking the teams at 32-32 at the break.
Trine began to seperate itself from its opponents in the third quarter as the Thunder outscored the Bulldogs, 19-5, in the period. Trine scored the first nine points of the period that ended in a triple by Wildman to make it a 41-32 game. Redlands recorded its first points of the second half at the 4:14 mark on a three-pointer that cut the deficit to six points, 41-35. Trine later recorded its first double-digit lead thanks to a layup by freshman Sam Underhill (Grand Rapids, Mich./Northview) and a layup by Steers following the Redlands triple making the score 45-35 with just over three minutes left. The two baskets were the start of a 10-2 run by Trine to end the quarter which led to a 14-point advantage heading into the final period.
The fourth quarter started with one-of-two freebies by freshman Sophie Sloneker (Monroe, Ohio/Monroe) and put Trine ahead by 15 points, 52-37. The Thunder maintained a double-figure lead throughout the final period and put the game away late with an 8-0 run that ended in a jumper by sophomore Rachel Stewart (Pekin, Ind./Eastern) to give Trine its largest lead of the game of 21 points, 65-44, with 2:09 to go. Trine equalled its 21-point advantage two more times before time expired and went on to win by the final of 69-49.
Trine advances to face Bowdoin (Maine) College in the "Sweet 16" on Friday, Mar. 13. Start time for the game and location is TBA.
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