ST. LOUIS, Mo. – The Vincennes University Lady Trailblazers hit the road Sunday afternoon to take part in the St. Louis CC Classic against Lewis & Clark.
VU fell behind in the second quarter and trailed by five at halftime before a lengthy third quarter scoring run propelled Vincennes to a 74-55 win over Lewis & Clark.
Vincennes got off to a quick start early ending the first quarter with a 14-6 lead over the Trailblazers.
The Lady Blazers grew their lead to 13 early in the second quarter before Lewis & Clark responded back to outscore Vincennes 24-6 to close out the first half and grab a 30-25 halftime advantage.
VU bounced back in the third quarter after falling behind 41-35 to launch a 22-2 scoring run that stretch from midway through the third quarter to early in the fourth.
Vincennes held a nine point lead heading into the final 10 minutes of play.
The Lady Trailblazers continued to expand this lead throughout the fourth quarter as Vincennes finished off their 10th win of the season with a 74-55 win over Lewis & Clark.
"I thought we started off slow, even though we were leading early," VU Hall of Fame Head Coach Harry Meeks said. "Lewis & Clark came back and got their lead to five and about that point I was wondering if we were going to be able to turn it around. But we came out in the second half and got it done. We went about it very methodically by running our offense and getting some easy scores."
"We did not run our press offense very well," Meeks added. "Sometimes in the heat of battle players just don't understand what you are trying to tell them. I was very disappointed in how we handled their press. They were looking for us to throw the ball away to them and I think we did that with very little effort on their side. I think in the fourth quarter we got back to playing the way we should have been playing."
VU was led offensively by freshman Day'Lynn Thornton (Lafayette, Ind.) who finished with 16 points and a team-high four assists.
Sophomore Macy Michels (Teutopolis, Ill.) ended with her third double-double of the season, finishing with 10 points and a team-high 11 rebounds, while also dishing out three assists.
Freshman Cherrelle Newsom (Indianapolis, Ind.) was the third Lady Blazer to reach double figures, ending with 10 points on the game.
Sophomore Nina Blade (Milwaukee, Wis.) nearly completed a double-double of her own, finishing with eight points and tying Michels for the team-lead with 11 rebounds. Blade also came away with a pair of steals on the game.
VU freshman Trinitee Harris (Elkhart, Ind.) and Laila Grant (Derwood, Md.) each received a flagrant technical foul midway through the fourth quarter and were ejected for the game.
Harris and Grant will each be suspended for the next game and may be suspended for Vincennes' Region 24 clash with Wabash Valley next Saturday.
"Day'Lynn did a really good job running the point for us," Meeks said. "She played really good defense. I know that if she is guarding you, you are in for a long night. She's very aggressive and plays extremely hard and you can see that she does not want to lose. I really appreciate her effort and the way she played."
"Our guards did an outstanding job," Meeks said. "Especially in the second half running our offense. Macy has been playing really well. She's been working in the weight room trying to add some strength and that has really helped us."
"Nina is a plus for us. When she does well, we're going to be alright. Her and Macy have been picking it up lately and they are going to have to help us on the boards and scoring inside. We really need to be able to score inside and lately we've been able to do that. They been doing a good job of scoring and rebounding and we have to continue to do that."
Vincennes will return to the P.E. Complex tomorrow, Dec. 13 when the Lady Blazers play host to Wayne County Community College from Detroit, Mich. Tip-off time
"This is a tough stretch of our schedule," Meeks said. "I just want us to be competitive. This is a team effort. We want everyone to participate and play at a high-level. Hopefully that will happen and we can get through tomorrow without anything bad happening."
VINCENNES BOX SCORE
VINCENNES (74): Trinitee Harris 3-7 2-4 9, Cherrelle Newsom 3-11 2-2 10, Nina Blade 3-6 2-2 8, Macy Michels 5-11 0-0 10, Laila Grant 2-6 2-4 6, Chanice Willis 1-4 2-3 5, Day'Lynn Thornton 5-7 4-6 16, Candela Lascorz 2-4 0-0 4, Kylee Shelton 1-3 2-2 4, Anete Bluma 1-1 0-0 2, Team 26-60 16-23 74.
Lewis & Clark – 6 24 13 12 – 55
VU (10-4, 4-0) – 14 11 27 22 – 74
Three-point goals: VU 6 (Newsom 2, Thornton 2, Harris, Willis). Rebounds: VU 43 (Blade 11, Michels 11). Assists: VU 15 (Thornton 4). Steals: VU 7 (Blade 2, Shelton 2). Blocked shots: VU 4 (Harris, Michels, Lascorz, Bluma). Turnovers: VU 23. Personal Fouls: VU 15. Technical Fouls: VU 4 (Grant 2 (4 – 5:43), Harris 2 (4 – 5:43).