ANGOLA, IND. -- Junior Tara Bieniewicz (Chesterfield, Mich./Dakota) and sophomore Alex Porter (Goshen, Ind./Concord) both scored a game-high 16 points to lead the Trine University women's basketball team in a lopsided, 89-29, win against Kalamazoo (Mich.) College in the Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association opener at the MTI Center in Angola, Ind.
Bieniewicz scored her 16 points on six-of-eight shooting (75.0 percent) and four-of-five (80.0 percent) from three-point range. Porter went a perfect eight-of-eight from the field and also grabbed a game-high seven rebounds. In addition to Bieniewicz and Porter, junior Kelsy Taylor (Louisville, Ky./New Albany) also scored in double figures with 14 points in addition to grabbing five rebounds.
The Trine (7-1, 1-0 MIAA) defense held Kalamazoo (0-2, 0-1 MIAA) to single-digit scoring in each quarter and outscored the Hornets, 47-14, in the first half. KZOO scored the first points of the game on a pair of free-throws, Trine then scored the next 10 points, starting with a jumper by Bieniewicz en route to a 10-2 advantage at the 7:05 mark. After a Hornet bucket that ended the Thunder's string of 10 straight points, Trine went on another sizeable run of 17-4 to end the period and included a layup by sophomore Sam Underhill (Grand Rapids, Mich./Northview) that gave the home team a 21-point lead, 27-6. KZOO scored a layup in the final seconds to cap the scoring, but Trine went into the second quarter leading, 27-8.
Trine started quarter number two with an 8-0 run that included triples by junior Kayla Wildman (Rockford, Mich./Rockford) and Bieniewicz and later went on to lead by 30 points, 43-13, with a little under two minutes to go following two free-throws by sophomore Alyssa Argyle (Freeland, Mich./Freeland). Porter then scored on a jumper just before time expired in the half that resulted in Trine's largest lead of the game to that point with a halftime score of 47-14.
Coming out of the locker rooms, the Thunder offense outscored KZOO, 17-1, to make the score, 66-17, after a layup by senior Shay Herbert (Pinckney, Mich./Pinckney) with 5:34 to go in the third quarter. The Hornets connected on a layup on their next offensive possession, when a layup by Kaylee Argyle began another Trine run, this time of nine consecutive points to make it a 73-17 game with just over two minutes to go. The quarter ended with three-of-four free-throws by KZOO in the final 25 seconds, but Trine maintained a 73-20 margin going into the final 10 minutes.
With the win secured, Trine won the scoring battle in the fourth quarter by a margin of 16-9 and went on to lead by as many as 62 points on two occasions with the last one coming on a jumper by Porter that made the score 89-27 with under a minute to go. The final points of the contest was a KZOO jumper, but Trine cruised to a final of 89-29.
Trine will travel to Alma, Mich. on Thursday, Feb. 11 for MIAA matchup against Alma College. The two teams are scheduled to play at 7:30 p.m.