ANGOLA, Ind. – A dominating defensive effort led Trine to a 69-57 victory over No. 19 Calvin Saturday afternoon in Hershey Hall.

Trine's defense stepped up huge against the Knights, forcing 22 turnovers which allowed them to score 24 points off turnovers. This is Trine's first win over Calvin since 2005. Cassidy Williams (Archbold, Ohio / Archbold) and Brandi Dawson (Garrett, Ind. / Garrett) led the offense for the Thunder.  Williams scored a career-high 13 points and added three steals. Dawson scored 12 points and had six rebounds. Bre Luurtsema led the offense for the Knights by having a double double with 13 points and 11 rebounds The Thunder improved to 14-7 overall and to 7-6 in conference. The Knights fell to 16-5 overall and to 10-2 in conference.

The Thunder held the Knights to a 31 three point shooting percentage (9-29) and to a 38.5 overall shooting percentage (20-52). Trine dominated the paint scoring 42 to Calvin's 20. The Thunder forced 13 steals against Calvin.

Trine's Taylor Cole (Mt. Pleasant, Mich. / Shepherd) and Alivia Recker (Arlington, Ohio / Arlington) added to the offensive effort as well. Cole scored 10 points and grabbed six rebounds. Recker notched 10 points and seven rebounds. Ashley Elliott (Scottsburg, Ind. / Scottsburg) was important breaking the press and dishing out six assists to one turnover.

The first quarter started with the Knights coming out with a full court press. The Thunder defensive forced the Knights to nine turnovers to their two, scoring 13 points off of the Knights turnovers. The quarter ended with Trine on top 20-12.

Trine's run continued into the second quarter, getting ahead of Calvin by double digits. The Thunder defense continued to have a strong presence against Calvin, forcing another six turnovers and shutting down the Calvin's offense from scoring for over ten minutes. Trine only allowed Calvin to score three points in second quarter.

The Thunder started the third quarter where they left off in the second quarter offensively and defensively. Trine's defensive forced seven turnovers. They remained ahead by double digits the whole third quarter. They led by as much as 14 in the third quarter.

In the fourth quarter Calvin, came back within single digits coming off of couple three's in the middle of the quarter.  The Knights got as close as seven points with 3:38 to play, but the Thunder answered with a 6-0 run to restore the double digit lead. That run secured the win for Trine.

Trine's women's basketball returns to action Wednesday, Feb. 10 when the Thunder travel to Albion for an MIAA conference game. Tip-off is scheduled for 6 p.m. Trine will enter the game holding onto fourth place in the conference standings.

Article Contributed by Cody Konieczki, Trine University, Communications '17