ANGOLA, Ind.-- The Trine women's basketball team survived a late run from Manchester to defeat the Spartans, 60-59 in non-conference action Wednesday evening in Hershey Hall.
The Thunder held a six-point lead with 3:14 to play and had to hold on as Manchester scored the last five points. Ashley Elliott (Scottsburg, Ind./Scottsburg) came away with a steal in the closing seconds to help seal the victory. Hayley Martin (Auburn, Ind./DeKalb) scored a team-high 16 points on 6-of-12 shooting to lead the way for Trine. Katie Arterburn scored 18 points and knocked down five threes to pace Manchester. The Thunder extended its winning-streak to four games and improved to 7-3. The Spartans fell to 3-7 overall.
Trine forced Manchester into 19 turnovers while committing just 12 themselves. The Thunder converted those miscues into 26 points. Trine came away with 13 steals, led by Alivia Recker's (Arlington, Ohio/Arlington) five swipes. The Thunder averaged over 10 steals per game in the month of December.
Recker poured in 13 points and grabbed eight rebounds on the night. Both totals represented a season-high. Whitney Shaffer (Tipton, Ind./Tri-Central) added 10 points off the bench on an efficient 4-of-6 shooting clip. Taylor Cole (Mount Pleasant, Mich./Shepherd) added eight points and four assists. The junior has averaged five assists per game over the course of Trine's four-game winning-streak, dishing out 20 assists to just four turnovers.
A nine-point run by the Spartans midway through the third quarter gave Manchester the lead and created a tight game down the stretch. A three by Faith-Alexis Graham and back-to-back threes by Arterburn gave MU a 46-44 lead with 2:54 to play. Neither team would lead by more than six the rest of the night.
Back-to-back threes by Shaffer restored the Thunder lead at 50-46. Trine would take a four-point lead into the fourth.
Martin came up big in the fourth quarter, scoring six of her points in the final 10 minutes. Buckets by Martin and Brandi Dawson (Garrett, Ind./Garrett) pushed the score to 58-53. After a Spartan free throw, Martin's final bucket extended the lead to 60-54 with 3:14 to play.
Four points by Samantha Bolen and a free throw by Arterburn cut the score to 60-59 with 1:15 left. Trine was able to force a miss and Elliott's steal erased a Spartan possession with 11 seconds left. After a pair of missed free throws, Kelcey Daugherty's three was off the mark as time expired for a Thunder victory.
Bolen scored 12 points on the night for the Spartans. Manchester connected on 8-of-20 threes (40 percent) on the night.
Trine will travel to Wilmington (Ohio) for two games in the Fred Raizk Memorial Tournament. The Thunder will face Berea Saturday night at 8 p.m., with a matchup with Kenyon or the host Quakers looming on Sunday.