WESTERVILLE, OHIO -- Trine University sophomore women's basketball player Kelsy Taylor (Louisville, Ky./New Albany) recorded career-highs in points and rebounds which also resulted in her first double-double of her collegiate career in a 76-56 win against Hanover College to wrap up the Smokey Ballenger Classic hosted by Otterbein (Ohio) University in Westerville, Ohio.
Taylor led all players in scoring and rebounding with 18 points on eight-of-11 shooting (72.7 percent) to go along with 11 boards. Sophomore Kayla Wildman (Rockford, Mich./Rockford) was second in scoring with 14 points and senior Katy Steers (Portage, Ind./Portage) was third with 12 points in addition to grabbing six rebounds and a game-high five assists.
Sophomore Tara Bieniewicz (Chesterfield, Mich./Dakota) rounded out the double-figure scorers with 10 points.
In the first half, Trine (8-3) went into the locker rooms trailing by two points, 36-34. Hanover (4-5) outscored the Thunder, 21-17, in the first quarter aided by an impressive shooting effort that saw the Panthers go nine-of-13 (69.2 percent) from the floor. Trine led by six points, 10-4, in the early minutes following a layup by Taylor at the 6:44 mark. Hanover eventually came back to even the score and ended the period by outscoring the Thunder, 9-5, to have a four-point lead after the first 10 minutes, 21-17.
The second quarter saw a pretty even battle between the two teams, but the period started with a 10-2 scoring run by Trine that began and ended with points scored by Bieniewicz and put the Thunder out ahead by four points, 27-23, with just over seven minutes to go in the half. Hanover hung around and later regained the lead on a three-pointer at the 3:43 mark that led to a 7-3 scoring differential to end the half and gave Hanover the two-point edge at the intermission, 36-34.
Trine took over in the second half by outscoring Hanover a combined, 42-20, in the final 20 minutes. Hanover held a three-point advantage in the opening minutes of the third quarter until a triple by Bieniewicz sparked a 15-2 run and gave the Thunder a sizeable 10-point margin, 52-42, at the 4:46 mark. Following a made jumper by Hanover on its next possession, the two teams then went scoreless for the next 3:18 until a pair of freebies by Bieniewicz matched Trine's earlier 10-point lead, this time by a score of 54-44. The final points of the period were recorded on a Panther free-throw, followed by a layup to make it a 54-47 game heading into the fourth quarter.
The fourth quarter saw Trine hold Hanover to just nine points and four made field goals as the Thunder put up 22 points and pull away. Trine scored the first eight points of the final period which allowed the lead to balloon to 15 points following a layup by Steers. A series of scoring runs resulted in the Thunder posting their largest lead of the game of 22 points with 2:42 to go in the contest after two free-throws by freshman Alexa Porter (Goshen, Ind./Concord). The lead would not be threatened the remainder of the game as Trine went on to win by the final of 76-56.
Trine will resume the Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association portion of the schedule on Saturday, Jan. 4 when it hosts No. 4 nationally-ranked Hope (Mich.) College at the MTI Center. The two teams are set to tip-off at 3 p.m.