PITTSBURGH, Pa. – The Trine University women's basketball team was defeated by Hope College on Thursday night in the National Championship Seminfinal Round by a score of 57-52. The Thunder will end their season with a 28-4 record, the most wins in a season in school history.
The senior class of Kaylee Argyle [Freeland, Mich. / Freeland], Tara Bieniewicz [Chesterfield, Mich. / Dakota], Natalee Kunse [Clare, Mich. / Clare], Rachel Stewart [Pekin, Ind. / Eastern], Kelsy Taylor [Louisville, Ky. / New Albany] and Kayla Wildman [Rockford, Mich. / Rockford] leave a lasting legacy on the program on the national stage as well as a school record for lowest three-point field goal percentage defense (22.1%).
"I'm really proud of our team and how well we battled," head coach Andy Rang said postgame. "That first half looked like two teams that knew each other pretty well."
It was a rough start for the Thunder as Hope went on an 8-0 run on the first four possessions of the game. The Flying Dutch forced two turnovers and a missed shot en route to the scoring spree.
A timeout by head coach Andy Rang swung the momentum just as quickly as Trine scored the next seven points. Kaylee Argyle connected on an and-one and hits a lay-up in traffic as well. Stewart got on the scoreboard for the sixth and seventh points to get to within one, 8-7, with 4:11 to go.
Hope netted the final four points of the period to take a 12-7 lead into the quarter break. The Thunder wrapped up the first with an uncharacteristic six turnovers, five of them live ball turnovers.
"We knew how frustrated we were not scoring in the first quarter," the senior Argyle said in the press conference. "If we can dive deep defensively and make them feel frustrated. When we get those stops, it motivates us and gets our offense going."
Stewart made a pair of field goals in the second quarter to prevent the Thunder from going down double digits, however the first of her makes was to end a scoring drought of almost seven minutes. Sam Underhill [Grand Rapids, Mich. / Northview] and Wildman each scored before the end of the half, as well as a pair of free throws from Kaylee Argyle to give her seven first half points, as Hope maintained a 24-16 advantage at recess.
Trine was held to just 6-for-26 (23.1%) from the field overall and the teams combined for 0-of-15 from long range.
Taylor got in the scoring column early in the third quarter with a lay-up in the paint, but Hope ballooned the lead to 12 before the Thunder called for time with 7:59 to go in the period. Taylor had five points in the quarter alone, all of which coming in the first four minutes. Katie Sloneker [Monroe, Ohio / Monroe] found Taylor on a post-to-post back cut to give Taylor her second field goal of the frame.
The first three-point field goal of the game for either squad came at the 4:51 mark to put Hope up 16, 39-23. Coming out of a timeout, the Flying Dutch took their largest lead of the game 41-23. Alyssa Argyle [Freeland, Mich. / Freeland] knocked down a three with 3:21 left in the third, the first of the game.
Stewart was the catalyst for the Trine offense with the final seven points, highlighted by an and-one. Hope led going into the final 10 minutes of action, 47-36.
Bieniewicz scored her first points of the night early in the fourth with a make from distance to make it a single-digit game for the first time since the start of the second stanza. Wildman connected from long range as well a few moments later to get to within four, 48-44.
Stewart commented by saying, "When we saw Tara, our shooter, make her first three and seeing her get hype, I think that's where we started to pick up our energy and get back in to the game."
Underhill came out of the media timeout with five points, including an and-one to make it a one-possession game, 50-47, with 4:20 to go. Wildman, who was credited on the assist to Underhill, converted from deep to dig all the way out of the hole and back to an even 52-all at 3:35 left in the fourth.
"Sometimes I think when teams are down that much, they hang their heads and give up, but I remember I went to the bench and my teammates were like, "There's still 15 minutes left, we got this!"" Wildman mentioned postgame.
The next possession saw Hope reclaim the lead at 54-52 with a jump shot in the paint. The teams saved their timeouts for late in a close game, as both teams stepped up defensively out of the stoppages. On the third however, the Flying Dutch would use the shot clock and score with 26 seconds remaining to make it a two-possession game.
A turnover on the other end forced the Thunder to start fouling, but to no avail as Hope hit one more free throw to seal the 57-52 victory and advance to the NCAA DIII National Championship game versus the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater.
Stewart was the leading scorer with 16 points and four blocked shots, as well as tied for the team-lead in rebounds Underhill at six. The bench contributed 35 of the team's 52 total.