HANOVER, Ind.—The Trine women's basketball team is off to its best start in program history with a 76-47 win over Hanover on Thursday night.
With the win over the Panthers, Trine is off to a program best 10-1 record. The Thunder's nine game winning-streak is the longest since 1999. Hanover falls to 4-6 and has lost its last three games.
Trine jumped out to an early lead in the first quarter, but the Panthers came back to tie the game up twice. With less than two minutes left in the quarter, a layup by Jayde Abenth (Saginaw, Mich./Heritage) and a three pointer from Ashley Elliott (Scottsburg, Ind./Scottsburg) put Trine up by five points going into the second.
The Thunder continued to run up the scoreboard in the second quarter completing a 17-0 run to go up 30-13. Trine outscored Hanover 24-11 in the quarter to carry a 42-24 lead into the second half. Cassidy Williams (Archbold, Ohio/Archbold) led the Thunder with 11 points in the first.
Trine dominated in the third quarter edging Hanover 20-12. The Thunder wrapped up the win adding 14 points to the Panthers 11 in the fourth quarter. Montana Martin (Columbia City, Ind./Churubusco) led the Thunder in the third quarter with seven points.
Williams led the Thunder with a career-high 17 points and tied her career high with six assists. Williams also added six rebounds. Montana Martin added 11 points, while Hayley Martin (Auburn, Ind./DeKalb) notched 10 points. Taylor Cole (Mt. Pleasant, Mich./Shepherd) grabbed two steals to now sit in sole possession of 10th place in team history in steals.
The Panthers were led by Maleha Motter and Audrey Wetzel with nine points a piece. Motter and Wetzel each added a team high five rebounds.
Trine has held seven straight opponents to under 50 points. The Thunder took advantage of Hanover's 25 turnovers to score 31 points.
The Thunder will return to action Wednesday, Jan. 4 when it will play host to Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association's Calvin. Tip off is at 6 p.m. in Hershey Hall.