ANGOLA, Ind. - In one of their most dominating defensive performances of the season, the Trine University women's basketball team kept their postseason hopes alive as they downed Albion College 63-46. The win moves the Thunder ahead of the Britons in the conference standings with a 6-8 record and an overall record of 12-11. Trine remains tied with Adrian and Alma for the fourth and final spot in the conference tournament, as both teams also picked up wins on the day.

After trading opening baskets, the Thunder would be off to the races as they sprinted out to a 20-2 lead with 11:25 to play in the half. The Trine defense held the Britons scoreless over a 9:07 period. Albion would then score six straight points as the Thunder led it 22-11 with 5:05 to play. The two sides would trade baskets over the final minutes of the half before junior Lauren Tait (Syracuse, Ind./Wawasee) would hit a jumper with just seconds left on the clock as Trine entered halftime with a 33-18 lead.

The 18 points allowed by the Thunder tied for a first half season-low, while the five field goals allowed were a season-low for the defense. Trine shot 14-of-34 (41.2%) from the floor in the first half while Albion managed just 25% (5-of-20).

It was more of the same for the Thunder to start the second half. After Albion made the opening bucket, the Thunder would go on a 10-0 run to push their lead to their largest of the game at 23 points. Albion would battle back going on their own 9-0 run to cut Trine's lead to 14 points with 14:30 left in the game. From there though, Trine would not allow the Britons to get any closer as their lead never dipped below 14 points. Trine's defense closed out the game allowing just two Albion field goals in the final 5:59 of the game, one of which came in the final seconds.

Senior Megan Loveberry (Quincy, Mich./Quincy) led the Thunder with a game- and season-high 22 points on 9-of-14 shooting from the floor and pulled down seven rebounds. Loveberry's 64.3% from the floor was also a team season-high and her six assists on the day also tied a team season-high. Senior Sydney Spragg (Reading, Mich./Reading) and freshman Alivia Recker (Arlington, Ohio/Arlington) each added 12 points on the afternoon.  Recker grabbed a season-high seven rebounds while Spragg led the Thunder with two steals. Tait pulled down a game-high eight rebounds which also tied a season-high for her.

For the game, the Thunder hit 25-of-63 (39.7%) from the floor while allowing a season-low in both field goals made (15) and field goals attempted (46).

In all, 10 of the 11 Trine players who saw action in the game scored.

Trine will head out for their final road game of the regular season which could determine their postseason fate as they travel to Alma for a 7:30 p.m. game on February 13.