ANGOLA, IND. -- The Trine University women's basketball team posted its largest win margin of the season with an 88-27 victory against Olivet (Mich.) College in a Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association game at the MTI Center.
Trine (20-2, 13-0 MIAA) held its opponent to single digits in scoring in all four quarters and forced 28 turnovers for the game which it turned into 43 points.
The Thunder gave up just five points in the first period and scored the first 21 points of the game to lead, 21-0, with just under four-and-a-half minutes to play. During that span, senior Brandi Dawson (Garrett, Ind./Garrett) scored nine of her game-high 17 points and fellow senior Cassidy Williams (Archbold, Ohio/Archbold) scored seven of her 10 points. Olivet (6-15, 2-10 MIAA) didn't record its first points until the 4:05 mark, but Trine continued to pull away and led by as many as 26 points, 28-2, at the 1:41 mark following a bucket by freshman Kelsy Taylor (Louisville, Ky./New Albany). The Comets recorded their final points of the quarter with a triple, but a layup by Trine sophomore Paige Reid (Grand Blanc, Mich./Holly) capped the scoring and sent the Thunder into the second frame leading by a score of 30-5.
The second quarter saw Trine double-up its opponent in scoring for the period, 16-8, and extended the lead out to as many as 38 points, 48-10, thanks to a pair of free-throws by Williams. The Comets tallied the final points of the half on a three-pointer, but the Thunder still maintained a sizeable advantage at the intermission, 48-13.
Sophomore Shay Herbert (Pinckney, Mich./Pinckney) began the scoring in the third quarter and sparked a string of 13 unanswered points by Trine to make it a 61-13 ball game with 3:58 to go in the period. In a repeat of the second quarter, the home squad gave up just eight points in the third period (16-8), and had a 64-21 advantage heading into the final 10 minutes.
Trine connected on four triples in the fourth quarter en route to outscoring Olivet, 24-6, in the period. Leading by a score of 75-27, freshman Rachel Stewart (Pekin, Ind./Eastern) scored on a layup that began a 13-0 run by the Thunder to end the game and gave Trine its largest lead of 61 points and a final score of 88-27.
Dawson scored her game-high 17 points on seven-of-10 shooting (70.0 percent) in just 20 minutes of action. Williams was second in scoring with her 10 points and also tallied a game-tying high four assists.
Junior Katy Steers (Portage, Ind./Portage) had a strong night on the glass with a game-high nine rebounds as Trine out-rebounded Olivet, 45-20. In addition, freshman Hannah Milligan (Clinton Twp., Mich./Lutheran North) finished in a tie with Williams with four helpers.
Trine will go for an 11th-straight victory when it hosts Saint Mary's (Ind.) College on Wednesday, Feb. 6 in a MIAA contest at the MTI Center. It will also be senior night with tip-off scheduled for 7:30 p.m.