ALMA, Mich. - The Trine University women's basketball team now controls their own destiny to reach the MIAA Tournament as they defeated Alma College 59-52. The win improves the Thunder to 7-8 in the conference, a game ahead of both Alma and Adrian with one game to play. If the Thunder defeat Kalamazoo on Saturday, they will clinch the fourth seed in the conference tournament.
It took over three minutes for either team to get on the board, but the Thunder used that to their advantaged as they sprinted out to a 16-2 lead through 11:26 of the half as they never trailed the rest of the way. The Trine defense held the Scots without a point over a 4:06 stretch until Alma hit a free throw. The Thunder defense ended up holding the Alma offense without a field goal for nearly 6 minutes.
With Trine leading 22-9 with 6:44 to play in the half, the Scots would go on a 10-0 run in just 1:29 to pull within three. Trine stopped the bleeding as junior Lauren Tait (Syracuse, Ind./Wawasee) hit a pair of free throws to push the Trine lead back to five. After trading free throws, neither team would be able to cash in on their offensive opportunities over the final 3:22 of the half as the Thunder led it 26-22 at the break.
Despite shooting just 5-of-23 in the opening half, the Thunder connected on 13-of-15 from the free throw line.
Alma would cut the Trine lead to just one at 26-25 in the early goings, but the Thunder scored five straight points to push their lead back to six. Trine would continue the run as their lead grew back to double-digits as they led it 43-33 with 12:05 to play. The Trine defense would put a stop to the Scots offense, as they held the scoreless over a 4:35 stretch as the pushed their lead to 14 points.
After trading baskets, the Scots scored six straight to cut the Trine's lead to just five with 3:20 to play in the game. With just 1:01 to play, the Scots fouled senior Sydney Spragg (Reading, Mich./Reading) who stepped to the line and hit two clutch free throws to give the Thunder a seven point lead. Senior Megan Loveberry (Quincy, Mich./Quincy) would also hit a pair of free throws in the final 30 seconds as the Thunder held on for the win.
Loveberry led all players with a game-high 22 points on 7-of-11 shooting, including hitting four from three-point range. Loveberry also made a game-high four steals and grabbed five rebounds on the night. Spragg also scored in double-digits for the Thunder, scoring 16 points and leading the Thunder with seven rebounds and four steals. Freshman Kelcey Swisher (Williamsport, Ind./Seeger Memorial) led the Thunder with three assists.
Trine will host Kalamazoo on February 16 for a 3:00 p.m. for a chance to make the MIAA Tournament.