ANGOLA, Ind. – The Trine University women's basketball team fought tooth and nail on Monday night in a makeup game versus Albion College to secure a 57-48 win. The victory marks the tenth straight for the number two ranked team in NCAA DIII and eighth in a row against Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association (MIAA) play.
The Thunder (18-2, 11-1 MIAA) held the Britons (16-6, 9-4 MIAA) in check from the field to 29.3% (17-for-58) and 20.0% (2-for-10) from long range. Albion was able to bring in 17 offensive rebounds and forced 20 Thunder turnovers, but it was not enough to overcome the rugged Trine defense.
The Thunder scored the first eight points of the game, three of which coming from Kelsy Taylor [Louisville, Ky. / New Albany], a made basket by Alyssa Argyle [Freeland, Mich. / Freeland], a Rachel Stewart [Pekin, Ind. / Eastern] made free throw and jump shot off the finger tips of Sidney Wagner [Warsaw, Ind. / Tippecanoe Valley].
The first Albion score came with 3:15 remaining in the first quarter after the Britons were off-target on their first 11 shots and had five miscues with the basketball. The six-point lead would remain to the end of the period at 12-6 following another make by Wagner and two free throws by Kayla Wildman [Rockford, Mich. / Rockford].
A Makayla Ardis [Lake City, Mich. / Lake City] steal was useful in a fast break score by Alyssa Argyle to take a double-digit advantage at 16-6 less than one minute into the second. Sam Underhill [Grand Rapids, Mich. / Northview] etched her name in the scoring column with a make a few minutes later to continue the attack offensively. Both teams went scoreless over the final two minutes of play in the first half as the scoreboard read 24-13.
Taylor converted an and-one opportunity on the first possession of the second half to take a 14-point advantage. Back-to-back makes from distance by Ardis and Tara Bieniewicz [Chesterfield, Mich. / Dakota] countered points by Albion to maintain the lead at 33-19. That gap would be consistent throughout the quarter, but a late three-point field goal from the Britons made it 39-28 with 10 minutes left to go.
Trine outscored the opposition 12-5 to begin the fourth quarter and a three-point basket by Underhill gave the Thunder their largest lead of the game at 51-33. Near the halfway point in the quarter, an and-one by the Britons sparked an 11-0 scoring run. The scoreless drought for Trine lasted nearly four minutes before Stewart converted a clutch lay-up to carry the momentum into the final 90 seconds.
The teams traded scores in that time as the #2 Thunder defeated Albion, who is receiving votes in the D3hoops.com national poll, by a score of 57-48.
Alyssa Argyle, who tied with Wildman for the team-lead with 11 points, had this to say postgame about weathering the storm late in the contest: "We just stuck together. That's something we talk about that championship teams do is stick together. This week, we have really been working on our defense, so if we know if our offense isn't flowing, we can continue to get stops and it will flow to the other side."
Stewart had the most Trine rebounds with eight and steals with five on the night and Bieniewicz got a hand on four shots by the Britons. Seven blocks as a team ties the most in a game this season.
Trine continues to march ahead towards a potential regular season championship on Wednesday, February 9 when the Thunder travel to Kalamazoo College at 6 pm.