HOLLAND, Mich. – The Trine University women's basketball team (20-7) advanced to the Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association (MIAA) Tournament Finals game after they secured a 65-55 victory against Calvin University (18-8). The Thunder advance to play the host and number one seed, the Hope College Flying Dutch, on their home floor on Saturday, February 24 at 7:30 p.m. The league's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament will be on the line in that contest.
Trine fell behind to Calvin 5-0 and 12-6 at the halfway point in the first quarter before Sidney Wagner knocked down a triple to cut the deficit in half. She would go coast-to-coast for two after getting a stop defensively to make it a one-point game at 12-11. That score would remain as the quarter began to wind down. A made field goal by the Knights made it 14-11 going into the second period.
After going scoreless for the final 3:43 of the first, Wagner made a layup in the first minute of the second quarter that opened the gate for Addison Hutson to give Trine the lead at 15-14. Katie Tate would go on a little scoring run herself and netted seven points in a row for the Thunder in the third. Sydney Horton made a shot from long range with 18 ticks left to tie the game at 27, but the Knights would get a bucket at the buzzer to take a two-point lead into the locker room.
Trine fell behind by five early in the second half, but an and-one by Tate got the game back to even at 34-34 with 5:31 to go in the frame. Calvin once again built up a five-point lead, but a 6-0 run highlighted by a three-point make by Tiana Maat gave the Thunder a one-point advantage going into the final ten minutes, 42-41.
Trine would take control of the game in the fourth quarter by outscoring their opponents 23-14. The Knights did not go away quietly after evening the score at 50-50 with 5:27 to go, but a pair of free throws by Tate on the following possession would ignite and 11-0 run for the Thunder. Sierra Hinds made five of her six free throw attempts as the clock continued to dwindle into the final minute. A three by Calvin with 50 seconds to go was not enough and Trine made enough free throws in money time to seal the deal and move on to the MIAA Tournament Finals game with a 65-55 triumph.
The Thunder leaned on a season-high 19 points from Tate after she went 5-for-7 from the field and 9-of-14 from the charity stripe. Wagner was the only other double-digit scorer at 17 points. Wagner paced the team with eight rebounds and four steals as well. The team was outrebounded to the tune of 38-29 and gave up 19 second chance points, but better efficiency (17-for-41) from the field and the free throw line (27-for-36) led Trine to nab the win.
Tickets are available to see the Thunder go for their first MIAA Tournament Championship since 2019 on the MIAA TICKETING PORTAL.