ANGOLA, Ind. – The Trine University women's basketball team was victorious in the Semifinal Round of the Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association (MIAA) Tournament 75-62 over the number fifth-seeded Alma College Scots.
The Thunder (24-2) assisted on 20-of-26 made field goals in the wire-to-wire win and outrebounded the Scots (15-12) by a margin of 10, 38-28. Moving on to the MIAA Championship game, Trine will play host to the two seed, Hope College, who was triumphant over Calvin University 68-42.
Head coach Andy Rang commented on how well Alma was able to play them postgame, "They really came after us, and when you shoot the ball as well as they did tonight, especially from three, it gave us a few problems. I thought we did well in the half court, but once they got downhill on us, we lost a few shooters and you just can't have that in a postseason game."
Kelsy Taylor [Louisville, Ky. / New Albany] scored the opening basket of the game off a post feed by Kayla Wildman [Rockford, Mich. / Rockford]. A string of three consecutive makes by the home team put them up 9-4 at the halfway point in the first quarter. Tara Bieniewicz [Chesterfield, Mich. / Dakota] chipped in five points during the run.
Alyssa Argyle [Freeland, Mich. / Freeland], Sidney Wagner [Warsaw, Ind. / Tippecanoe Valley] and Rachel Stewart [Pekin, Ind. / Eastern] helped to extend the lead to double figures at 19-9 at the quarter break with a 10-2 run.
The first 13 points of the second quarter were scored by Trine as the number one seed in the MIAA took a commanding 32-9 advantage. Alma was scoreless for nearly the first seven minutes. Kaylee Argyle [Freeland, Mich. / Freeland] and Sam Underhill [Grand Rapids, Mich. / Northview] each found the scoring column in the stretch.
The Scots turned things around and scored 11 straight points, their largest streak of the game, and made it 32-20 late in the period. Back-to-back three-point field goals by Bieniewicz following a timeout seized the momentum as the Thunder carried a 15-point lead into halftime, 38-23.
"We had to call that timeout and regroup a little bit," the senior guard Bieniewicz explained after. "We lost our momentum and made silly mistakes on defense that we usually have under control. Once we regrouped and talked it out, we were able to go back out and get some stops."
Alma came out of the locker room and threw an early punch in the second with eight consecutive points. The lead was cut down to single digits at 38-31. Bieniewicz was the hero once again as she canned her fourth three-pointer of the night to regain momentum, 41-31. Wildman and Alyssa Argyle continued to stroke it from deep to maintain the double-digit edge. Through three quarters of play, it was 55-42.
Makayla Ardis [Lake City, Mich. / Lake City] netted the first seven points in the fourth quarter for Trine, one that went even at 20 points for both teams. Underhill knocked down two baseline jumpers off of feeds by Stewart and the Thunder were 7-of-8 from the charity stripe to secure the 75-62 victory.
Bieniewicz totaled 18 points to lead Trine and Underhill was the team leader in rebounds with nine. Ardis dished out five assists and notched three of the team's six steals to lead the team in those categories.
The MIAA Championship game will be contested inside the MTI Center versus Hope College on Saturday, February 25. Tip-off is slated for 7 pm as the Thunder look to pick up their third MIAA crown.