GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. - it was a tough way to end their first winning season in over a decade as the Trine University women's basketball team fell to No. 3 Calvin College 83-48. The Thunder end their season 14-12.
It was a rough start for the Thunder as the Knights jumped out to an early 13-0 lead through 13:23 of the opening half. Senior Megan Loveberry (Quincy, Mich./Quincy) would end the drought as she hit a free throw at the 13:02 mark. The Thunder would get their first field goal at the 11:30 mark by sophomore Kelsey Henselmeier (Martinsville, Ind./Martinsville) as Trine trailed by 10. Calvin though would come back down the court and hit a three. From there, the Thunder would go nearly 9 minutes without another field goal, by then through the Knights had taken a 21 point lead.
The Thunder shot just 3-of-32 (9.4%) in the opening half, including just 1-of-10 from long range.
Calvin opened the second half by scoring the two opening baskets, but the Thunder came back to scored two straight buckets of their own. That would be as close as the Thunder would get as Calvin scored six straight points to push their lead to 35. Most of the second half saw the two sides trading baskets, until the Thunder were held scoreless over a 6 minute stretch.
Henselmeier led the Thunder with 14 points on the night on 5-of-10 shooting. Playing in her final game for the Thunder, Loveberry scored 10 points and grabbed six rebounds. Fellow senior Sydney Spragg (Reading, Mich./Reading) added eight points, seven rebounds and two steals for the night. Freshman Alivia Recker (Arlington, Ohio/Arlington) also added eight points off the bench for the Thunder. Also playing in her final game at Trine, senior Haley Killingbeck (Poneto, Ind./Southern Wells) finished the night with three points and two rebounds.
Trine shot 40% for the second half, but finished the night 15-of-62 (24.2%) from the floor and 4-of-19 (21.1%) from three-point range. Calvin out-scored the Thunder in the paint 40-18 and scored 24 points on second chance opportunities.