HILLSBORO, Mo. – The Vincennes University Lady Trailblazers took a break from their regular Region 24 play to hit the road Monday night for a face-off against NJCAA Division II No. 21 ranked Jefferson College in Missouri.
The Lady Blazers grabbed the early but the Lady Vikings pressure defense caused problems for VU late as Jefferson College hit a layup at the buzzer to come away with the 64-62 victory over Vincennes.
The Lady Blazers got off to an excellent start Monday night, using a big 13-0 first quarter run to grab an early 15-8 lead over the Lady Vikings at the end of the first quarter.
Vincennes continued to play tough in the second quarter, going back and forth with Jefferson College and increasing their lead to 10 at halftime.
VU headed into the locker room break leading the Lady Vikings 33-23.
The Lady Blazers looked to put the game in cruise control early in the third quarter, riding a 14-0 scoring run to take a commanding 47-25 lead.
Jefferson College would then flip a switch and increase their pressure defense, closing out the third quarter with a 14-0 run of their own to end the period trailing the Lady Blazers 47-39.
The Lady Vikings would ride this momentum swing into the fourth quarter, where Jefferson College would erase the Vincennes lead and go ahead 60-55.
VU would battle back and looked to send the game into overtime with a clutch three by freshman Emani Washington (Indianapolis, Ind.) to even the score at 62-62 with 4.9 seconds remaining.
The Lady Vikings called timeout to advance the ball and were able to work an out of bounds play into a layup as the shot went in just before the buzzer, giving Jefferson College the 64-62 victory over VU.
The Lady Trailblazers were led offensively by sophomore Marta Gutierrez (Alicante, Spain) who got the VU offense going early with eight first quarter points and 14 points at the break to finish with 18 points, seven rebounds and six assists.
Freshman Delora Pricop (Satu Mare, Romania) notched her 10th double-double of the season with 15 points, 12 rebounds, while also shining on the defensive end with eight big blocks and three steals.
The Lady Trailblazers will return to Region 24 play Saturday, Feb. 1 when VU heads to Carterville, Ill. to take on John A. Logan College at 2 p.m. eastern.
