HOLLAND, Mich. – The Trine University women's basketball team took down the top-ranked team in NCAA III Hope College, who was riding a 61-game winning streak, 70-62 on the road
Wednesday night. It is the first known time since the D3hoops.com national poll started that the Thunder topped the number one team in the country.
"I'm really proud of our girls tonight," Head Coach Andy Rang stated postgame. "To go on the road and beat a great team like Hope shows a lot of heart. It was a true team effort."
A team effort it was to pick up the Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association (MIAA) win. The number four Thunder (14-2, 7-1 MIAA) held the Flying Dutch (16-1, 8-1 MIAA) to a season-low 27.0% (17-for-63) from the field and 15.0% (3-for-20) from three-point land.
Makayla Ardis [Lake City, Mich. / Lake City] and Tara Bieniewicz [Chesterfield, Mich. / Dakota] knocked down three's to get the game started for the visitors and take an early advantage. Ardis made it 8-2 with a lay-up one minute later.
Hope cut the lead to one before Sidney Wagner [Warsaw, Ind. / Tippecanoe Valley] and Rachel Stewart [Pekin, Ind. / Eastern] hit jump shots to go up 14-9 after one quarter of play.
Kayla Wildman [Rockford, Mich. / Rockford] hit two shots from beyond the arc to hold off Hope at the beginning of the second, but they would be the only scores in the first half of the period. Kelsy Taylor [Louisville, Ky. / New Albany] sparked a spurt of three consecutive makes for the Thunder and a Bieniewicz three at the 3:29 mark gave Trine a double-digit edge, 29-19.
The Thunder led at the half 36-26 behind 11 points by Bieniewicz and 10 out of Wildman. Trine was 9-of-12 from the field in the second quarter alone to pull away.
Alyssa Argyle [Freeland, Mich. / Freeland] wanted in on the three-point parade in the third quarter and knocked down a pair in the opening minutes after intermission to take a 13-point lead. Trine's largest lead of the game came with just 30 second left in the quarter when Wagner hit a lay-up of the steal and assist from Stewart on the defensive end.
With their backs against the wall, the Flying Dutch scored the first nine points of the fourth quarter and held the Thunder scoreless over the first 3:30 in the period. Up 57-53, Trine turned defense to offense once again following a steal by Bieniewicz and three-point make by Ardis. Hope cut it to four once more with under three minutes remaining, but Taylor provided a big-time response with a basket inside.
The Flying Dutch stopped the clock by getting to the free throw line and made it a one possession game, 64-61, at a timeout with 1:10 left. Hope went to the free throw line again with 44 ticks remaining and split the pair to make it 64-62. Stewart was fouled and hit two freebees with 34 seconds on the clock, then followed that up with a steal on the defensive end. The Flying Dutch were forced to foul Stewart again, but the senior had ice in her veins to knock down both shots at the charity stripe.
The senior and leading scorer Bieniewicz connected on two free throws with 12 seconds left to get to the 70-62 final score and send the Thunder home winners and snap the nation's longest winning streak. Bieniewicz had 18 to lead Trine and Stewart off the bench contributed with 16 points and a career-high six steals.
The Thunder shot 49.0% (25-for-51) from the field and 45.5% (10-for-22) from three and overcame 23 turnovers and Hope pulling down 25 offensive rebounds in the game.
The season continues on Saturday, January 29 at Olivet College for a 1 pm tip-off.