HOLLAND, Mich. – The Trine University women's basketball team advanced to the Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association (MIAA) Tournament Championship game for the eighth consecutive season with a 66-61 victory over Calvin University on Friday evening.
The Thunder were up 19 at one point in the second quarter, but the Knights battled all the way back to take the lead late in the fourth quarter. Eight fourth quarter points from senior guard Makayla Ardis, including the game-sealing free throws, aided the team in putting away Calvin for the third time this season.
Trine is now 21-5 overall and await the winner of the Hope College versus Albion College semifinal game. Calvin will look to the NCAA DIII Selection Show for an at-large bid to see if their season will continue with a 21-6 record.
The Thunder started the game red hot and ended the first quarter up 18-7. Senior guard Alyssa Argyle buried a three on the first possession of the game and Ardis finished with nine points in the opening frame. Sophomore guard Sierra Hinds helped extend the lead to double digits with a make from downtown with just under two minutes remaining in the quarter.
After being up 11 through 10 minutes, Trine continued to pour it on in the second quarter. A 10-2 run to start the frame made the score 28-9, the largest lead of the game for either side. Sophomore guard Katie Tate hit a shot from long range to punctuate the scoring run. Freshman forward Abby Sanner and sophomore guard Sidney Wagner countered makes by Calvin to keep the lead at 19, with Wagner's field goal putting her at the 500-career point mark. Nine of the final ten points in the second were scored by the Knights to put the halftime score at 36-25.
Guards Tate and Ardis scored early in the third, but Calvin worked their way back into the game thanks to excellent inside-out play. A 13-6 scoring run for the Knights shrunk the Thunder lead to four at 42-38 with just over three minutes to play in the period. A made basket by Sophie Sloneker was not enough as Calvin took the lead with points on four of the final five offensive possessions. Wagner had a couple of field goals to make it 48-47 Trine heading into the fourth quarter.
There were three lead changes in the first six minutes of the fourth quarter, but a pair of makes from behind the three-point line by Wagner and Ardis swung momentum Trine's way. The Ardis make came with 2:49 to play in the period and an and-one by the senior made it a two-possession game at 63-58 with 1:05 left.
The Knights were true from the free throw line on their possession and Tate made one-of-two freebees on the offensive end of the floor to make the gap four. A foul by the Thunder with 31 seconds to play allowed for Calvin to go to the charity stripe. The Knights made one, but an offensive rebound gave Calvin a chance to go for the tie. The Trine defense stood tall and forced a shot clock violation thanks to a timely block by Argyle on a game-tying three-point attempt. Ardis knocked down two free throws out of a timeout to cap the 66-61 win.
Ardis, Tate and Wagner were each in double figures for the Thunder at 21, 14 and 11 points. Ardis shot 8-of-16 from the field and brought down a team-high seven rebounds. Tate dished out four assists and was 7-for-11 from the free throw line. Following the game, Wagner and Ardis received their All-MIAA awards, where both student-athletes were First Team members and Wagner the league MVP.
Despite a 37-24 rebounding margin in favor of the Knights, Calvin was held to just two second chance points. Trine took advantage of 16 Knight turnovers and converted that into 21 points on the other end. The Thunder won the battle in the paint 30-22.
Up next, the number two seed Trine will square off with the winner of the one seed Hope College Flying Dutch and Albion College Britons, who are the number four seed on Saturday, February 25. Tip-off at Hope College is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.