VINCENNES, Ind. – The Vincennes University Lady Trailblazers closed out the second VU Classic weekend of the season Saturday night at the P.E. Complex with a tough defensive battle before VU was able to pull away late to pick up the 83-43 victory over the Pioneers.
The game got off to a slow start early on, with both teams’ defenses winning out in the opening quarter.
The Lady Blazers held the Pioneers to just nine points in the opening quarter as VU jumped out to a six-point lead after the first 10 minutes of play.
VU continued to break the game open, using a 9-2 scoring run early in the second quarter to take a 26-12 lead.
Delta College would look to respond before halftime but could only cut into the deficit by a point as the Lady Blazers held a 32-19 advantage at the midway point.
The Pioneers came out of the locker room firing and quickly cut the VU lead back to single digits before Vincennes regained their footing and built the lead back up to 17 heading into the final quarter of play.
Vincennes looked to completely put the game away early in the fourth quarter, outscoring Delta 20-4 to take a 68-37 lead.
VU would keep the pressure on to the very end as the Blazers defense held Delta to just 43 points as VU picked up their biggest win of the season 83-43.
“We knew from watching the first half that that was not very good basketball,†VU Hall of Fame Head Coach Harry Meeks said. “We didn’t guard anyone. We pretty much let them do whatever they wanted to do. Offensively we couldn’t score. Just about the whole team had several layup attempts and it was like we couldn’t make any of them.â€
“But I knew that once we got someone who would start playing some defense and let the defense create a little offense for us, we would be alright,†Meeks added. “Delta was changing from man-to-man to zone and there were times where it looked like we didn’t know what they were doing and we had some turnovers that we shouldn’t have had. But pretty much in the last third of the game we figured it out and got things going. We started playing really well and got the ball in the middle of the floor. We started making shots. Our defense in the second half was major. We really put some pressure on them and made them make mistakes. We’ve got to take our defense and almost make it an offense.â€
VU was led offensively by freshman center Elikya Baseyila (Paris, France) who dominated the low block on her way to her second career double-double with 18 points and 15 rebounds. Baseyila also led the Blazers with three blocks on the night.
