ANGOLA, IND.-- Trine defeated St. Mary's, 97-66, to extend the Thunder winning-streak to five games Saturday afternoon in Hershey Hall.
The win gives Trine five-consecutive wins for the first time since the 2011-12 team opened the season with six straight victories. The 31-point margin of victory is Trine's largest since joining the MIAA in 2004. Five Thunder scored in double-figures, led by Whitney Shaffer's (Tipton, Ind./Tri-Central) 21 points on 6-of-12 shooting. The junior knocked down 3-of-7 from long range, and added five rebounds and a pair of assists. Trine held a 42-20 edge in points in the paint and scored 22 points off turnovers. Ariana Paul led the Belles with 18 points on 9-of-21 shooting.
The Thunder are defeating opponents by an average margin of 24 points during their winning-streak. They improved to 5-1 overall and 2-0 in the MIAA. St. Mary's falls to 3-4 overall, 1-1 in conference play.
Kayla Dunn (Columbia City, Ind./Columbia City) added 15 points, five rebounds and three steals for Trine. Kelsey Henselmeier filled the stat sheet with 10 points, five rebounds and six assists, while Nikky Moan (Greenwood, Ind./Center Grove) added 10 points on 5-of-7 shooting. The Thunder shot 52.5 percent from the field (32-of-61) and hit 28-of-35 (80 percent) of their free throw attempts. Twelve players scored for Trine.
Eleni Shea added 14 points on 4-of-8 shooting for St. Mary's. Maddie Kohler added 12 points on 4-of-7 shooting. The Belles shot 39 percent overall (23-of-59) and hit 18-of-26 (69 percent) from the charity stripe.
The Belles started the game hot from the field, hitting 12 of their first 15 field goal attempts (80 percent). SMC led by as much as five in the first half. Paul paced the hot start, knocking down 7-of-10 from the field and scoring 14 points before halftime.
Trine seized control by outscoring St. Mary's 15-6 over the final 5:32 of the first half. Layups on three straight possessions by Moan, Shaffer and Brooklyn Harrison (Warsaw, Ind./Warsaw) turned a two-point deficit into a 33-29 lead. Three free throws by Dunn, a layup by Moan, and buckets by Taylor Cole (Mount Pleasant, Mich./Shepherd) and Emily Whiteleather (Columbia City, Ind./Columbia City) helped close out that stretch and put Trine up 42-35 at the half.
A 9-0 run to start the second half stretched the lead to double-digits. Shaffer hit a three to start the half, while Moan, Dunn and Whiteleather added points to open up a 16-point lead. The lead never shrunk below 11 the rest of the way.
Harrison and Cole led all Trine players off the bench with seven points apiece. The performance marked a career-high for Harrison.
Trine returns to action this Wednesday, Dec. 10 when they host Heidelberg. Tip-off is schedule for 7 p.m.