ANGOLA, IND. -- The Trine University women's basketball team outscored Albion (Mich.) College, 56-27, in the second half to come away with a 92-55 win against the Britons in non-conference action at the MTI Center in Angola, Ind.
Trine had three players score in double figures led by the duo of juniors Kelsy Taylor (Louisville, Ky./New Albany) and Kayla Wildman (Rockford, Mich./Rockford) with a game-high 16 points each. Taylor shot 85.7 percent from the field (six-of-seven) and Wildman finished with a 55.6 shooting percentage, including 57.1 percent from three-point range (four-of-seven).
Junior Tara Bieniewicz (Chesterfield, Mich./Dakota) was the third Trine player to score in double digits with 15 points and was also among the team leaders in rebounding with five boards.
Senior Shay Herbert (Pinckney, Mich./Pinckney) grabbed a game-tying high eight rebounds and junior Kaylee Argyle (Freeland, Mich./Freeland) led all players with four assists.
Trine (6-1) scored the first four points of the contest in the first quarter, but Albion (2-3) then outscored the Thunder, 7-4, to grab a one-point advantage at the 4:52 minute mark. The two teams then traded leads the rest of the way that included a three-point advantage for the Britons with 1:40 left to play, 12-9. A free-throw by sophomore Sam Underhill (Grand Rapids, Mich./Northview) and a three-pointer by Wildman ended the scoring in the period and gave Trine a slim 13-12 margin heading into the second quarter.
Taylor got the scoring started in the second frame with a jumper to put Trine ahead by three points early. Albion tied the game on its ensuing offensive possession with a three-pointer to even the contest at 15-15. Trine then made a move that started with a tre by Bieniewicz and led to a 10-2 run to go up by eight points, 25-17, and never trailed in the game again. The Britons worked their way back to within three points, 25-22, when an 8-0 Thunder run ended the Albion momentum and gave Trine its first double-digit lead of 11 points following a jumper by Taylor that made it a 33-22 game. Trine led by as many as 12 points in the quarter, but Albion narrowed the gap to single digits at halftime with a score of 36-28.
In the third quarter, Trine took control by outscoring Albion, 29-10, and quickly extended its lead back to double figures with a series of moderate scoring runs. One such run was a 16-2 spurt that ended in a layup by Kaylee Argyle and ballooned the margin to 26 points, 60-34, with 2:42 to go in the frame. A little over a minute-and-a-half later, a free-throw by sophomore Katie Sloneker (Monroe, Ohio/Monroe) made it a 29-point difference, the largest of the game for the Thunder to that point, with 1:06 left. Albion tallied the final points on a layup, but Trine still maintained a sizeable 27-point advantage going into the final quarter.
After a layup by Albion to start the fourth, Wildman connected on another triple which was the start of nine straight points for Trine to lead by 34 points, 74-40, at the 6:44 mark. The lead never dropped below 30 points the remainder of the game and reached its highest point of 39 points following a pair of free-throws by senior Sophia Kreag (Westfield, Ind./Westfield) with a little over a minute to go and made the score 92-53. The remaining points were scored on a layup by the Britons, but the win was already well in hand for Trine who went on to win by the final of 92-55.
Trine is scheduled to host Kalamazoo (Mich.) College on Tuesday, Feb. 9 at the MTI Center in the Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association opener. Tip-off is set for 7:30 p.m.