Lange’s double-double guides Lady Blazers to home opener win over Jefferson

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VINCENNES, Ind. – Vincennes native and Lady Blazer freshman Maycee Lange finished off a 12-point, 11-rebound double-double to give the Lady Trailblazers a 75-54 win over Jefferson College in VU’s first game on the home floor this season.

Both teams got off to a very slow start Tuesday night. The game was deadlocked at 1-1 midway through the opening quarter.

Vincennes hit a few shots late in the first quarter to stay tied at 10-10 after the first 10 minutes of play.

The Lady Blazers opened up in the second quarter, using a 6-0 lead to break away for a 20-14 lead and hold a 20-17 lead at the halftime break.

VU freshmen Maycee Lange (Vincennes, Ind.) and Katrina Litte (Valmeira, Latvia) began to expand the Vincennes lead in the third quarter, with Lange scoring 10 points in the third period alone as VU took a 46-39 lead into the final quarter of play.

Vincennes opened the fourth quarter on a 15-4 scoring run to take an 18-point lead and later used a 10-0 scoring run to help seal the game away as Vincennes cruised late to their third win of the season by the final score 75-54.

“I thought we did have a lot of jitters in the first half,” VU Hall of Fame Head Coach Harry Meeks said. “We didn’t take quality shots, although I thought we played really hard defensively. I think we could have scored a little bit more if we had been more relaxed. But unfortunately, I can’t get into their brain and get them to relax.”

“We did a really good job of coming back in the second half and scoring some points,” Meeks added. “In the first half, it looked like we could run anything offensively that we have been running in practice. Second half, we finally found a couple of things that were working for us, including our defense, which put a lot of pressure on them. We were able to get some steals and easy baskets that helped us get away from them.”

VU was led offensively off the bench by Katrina Litte who finished with 17 points, including three three-point shots and a team-high six assists.

Maycee Lange finished off her first double-double of the season with 12 points and 11 rebounds, while also adding a pair of assists and steals.

Freshman Elikya Baseyila (Paris, France) just missed a double-double, ending with 10 points and nine rebounds, seven of which coming on the offensive glass. Baseyila also led the Blazers with three blocks.

Freshman Brie Miller (Greencastle, Ind.) came off the bench to add nine points and three rebounds, while sophomore Chanice Willis (Champaign, Ill.) ended with eight points and two rebounds.

The Lady Blazers applied the pressure defensively all night, forcing the Lady Vikings into 28 turnovers and a 36-percent shooting percentage, including a 23-percent shooting percentage in the first half.