ANGOLA, IND. -- Senior Katy Steers (Portage, Ind./Portage) scored a career-high 19 points in a 58-51 loss against No. 4 nationally-ranked Hope (Mich.) College in a Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association game at the MTI Center in Angola, Ind.
Steers scored her 19 points on seven-of-15 shooting (46.7 percent) from the field and grabbed four rebounds to go along with four assists. She was one of two players to score in double figures against the Flying Dutch as sophomore Tara Bieniewicz (Chesterfield, Mich./Dakota) connected on five three-pointers to end the game with 15 points.
In addition, junior Shay Herbert (Pinckney, Mich./Pinckney) grabbed a game-high nine rebounds.
Trine (8-4, 2-1 MIAA) scored the first seven points of the fourth quarter to take a five-point lead in the early minutes, but following a timeout by Hope (13-0, 4-0 MIAA) in an effort to slow down the Thunder scoring run, the Flying Dutch scored seven straight points of their own as part of a larger 14-2 run in the final 6:46 of the period to regain control and take the win.
The first quarter belonged to the visitors from up North as the Dutch led throughout. Hope started the game with back-to-back baskets before a three-pointer by Steers put the Thunder on the scoreboard and cut the early deficit to a point, 4-3. Hope then went on an 8-2 run to lead by as many as seven points, 12-5, at the 5:12 mark which it equalled a little over a minute later en route to having a five-point edge after the first 10 minutes, 14-9.
Bieniewicz got Trine to within a point with a triple to start the scoring in the second frame and then gave Trine its first lead of the game shortly after with another three-pointer that made it a 20-19 contest with 7:52 left in the half. Hope responded with an ensuing 7-0 run to regain the lead and led at the intermission by a six-point margin, 32-26.
Hope recorded points on a layup to begin the scoring in quarter number three and took its largest lead of the game of eight points, 34-26. The Thunder worked themselves back to within three points, 36-33, at the 6:33 mark following yet another triple by Bieniewicz. Trine trailed by seven points, 40-33, with under six minutes left in the period. The Thunder then ended the frame by outscoring the visitors, 9-4, to make it a one-possession game heading into the fourth quarter (44-42), but would ultimately fall short in the final stanza.
Trine will host Olivet (Mich.) College on Wednesday, Jan. 8 in a MIAA contest as part of a basketball doubleheader at the MTI Center. The Thunder will take on the Comets at 5:30 p.m., followed by the Trine men against Kalamazoo (Mich.) College at approximately 7:30 p.m.