Defense leads Lady Trailblazers past D-II No. 22 Parkland College

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – The Vincennes University Lady Trailblazers hit the road Saturday afternoon to face their second straight Nationally ranked opponent.

VU headed to Champaign, Ill. to face off against NJCAA Division II No. 22-ranked Parkland College and came away with a strong 69-59 victory over the Cobras.

The Lady Blazers got off to an excellent start Saturday afternoon, riding a 12-0 first quarter scoring run to a 16-13 advantage after the first 10 minutes of play.

Vincennes took their game up to another level in the second quarter, turning defense into offense in transition to put up 27 points in the second quarter alone.

VU closed out the first half strong, outscoring Parkland 9-3 down the stretch to take a 43-27 lead into the halftime locker room break.

Parkland College looked to answer back as the second half began with the Cobras using a 10-0 scoring run to cut the VU lead down to 10.

VU would maintain their lead heading into the fourth quarter with the Lady Blazers holding a 53-41 advantage.

The Cobras again looked to strike early in the fourth quarter, using a 12-0 scoring run to even the score at 55-55 midway through the period.

Vincennes regained traction and weathered the storm with seven straight points and would put the game away by outscoring Parkland 7-2 to close out the game as VU finished out the 69-59 victory over host Parkland College.

The Lady Blazers were again led offensively by freshman Delora Pricop (Satu Mare, Romania), who finished the game with 16 points and seven rebounds.

Freshman Jazmyn Robey (Sellersburg, Ind.) had a big game for the Lady Blazers off the bench, scoring 14 points, adding nine rebounds and coming away with three steals.

Freshman Emani Washington (Indianapolis, Ind.) had a very good all-around game, finishing her day with 12 points, five assists, three rebounds and three steals.

Sophomore Marta Gutierrez (Alicante, Spain) was the fourth VU scorer in double figures, getting the VU offense going early with 11 points, all coming in the first half, while also leading the Lady Blazers with six assists, five steals and four rebounds.

Freshmen Iris Comesana (Vigo, Spain) and Ahmya Thomas (Phoenix, Ariz.) also got the start Saturday afternoon, with Comesana adding seven points and a pair of blocks, while Thomas battled early foul trouble to finish with five points, six assists and five steals.

Freshman Yanni Huggins (Belleville, Mich.) rounded out the Vincennes box score with the Lady Blazers only having seven active players Saturday, scoring four points and grabbing six rebounds in the game.

The VU defense stole the show Saturday afternoon, literally, forcing 26 Cobra turnovers with 17 Vincennes steals and many resulting in Lady Blazer baskets at the other end of the floor.

The Lady Blazers will look to keep this positive momentum going into next week as VU returns home to the Physical Education Complex Wednesday, Dec. 11 as Vincennes opens Region 24 play against John A. Logan College at 5 p.m.

Vincennes will then close out next week with another Saturday road game, this time heading to Robinson, Ill. to take on Lincoln Trail College at 2 p.m. eastern.

VINCENNES BOX SCORE

VINCENNES (69): Ahmya Thomas 2-9 0-0 5, Iris Comesana 3-6 1-2 7, Marta Gutierrez 4-9 1-4 11, Emani Washington 5-19 1-2 12, Delora Pricop 6-8 4-6 16, Jazmyn Robey 5-9 3-4 14, Yanni Huggins 1-2 2-4 4, Team 26-62 12-22 69.

Parkland College – 13   14   14   18 – 59

VU (4-7) – 16   27   10   16 – 69

Three-point goals: VU 5 (Gutierrez 2, Thomas, Washington, Robey). Rebounds: VU 32 (Robey 9). Assists: VU 21 (Thomas 6, Gutierrez 6). Steals: VU 17 (Thomas 5, Gutierrez 5). Blocked Shots: VU 3 (Comesana 2). Turnovers: VU 24. Personal Fouls: VU 14. Fouled out: None.

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Aces fall short against Hilltoppers

WKU takes 79-65 win over UE 

EVANSVILLE, Ind. – Cam Haffner and Gabriel Pozzato tied for the game-high with 19 points as the University of Evansville men’s basketball team fell to Western Kentucky on Saturday by a final score of 79-65 at the Ford Center.

Haffner added 8 rebounds and 4 assists while Pozzato registered 7 caroms and a pair of steals.  Tayshawn Comer finished with 12 points while Connor Turnbull had 9 points and 6 blocks.

“Today was a game of runs.  I felt like we did a better job of sticking to the gameplan in the first half, but we let it get away from us in the second half,” UE head coach David Ragland said.  “We’ll get back to work tomorrow and learn what we need to from today.”

Two triples gave the Hilltoppers a 6-0 lead before Tayshawn Comer knocked down a triple to put UE on the board.  Evansville made it a 1-point game at 8-7 on a Cam Haffner basket but WKU battled back with six in a row to double up the Aces at 14-7.

Triples from Connor Turnbull and Comer helped UE cut into the deficit before a 3-pointer by Gabriel Pozzato gave Evansville its first lead of the day at 18-17 just past the halfway point of the period.  The teams swapped the lead over the next sequence as a spin-around move from Haffner saw UE retake the lead before WKU jumped back in front at 24-22 as the half approached its final six minutes.

With two minutes on the clock, Haffner’s first triple of the afternoon was followed by a Pozzato dunk that gave UE its largest advantage at 31-26.  The Hilltoppers closed with two more triples to make it a 33-32 game at halftime.

Just as he did to open the game, Comer posted the first basket of the second half and Haffner added another triple to give UE a 38-35 lead.  Trailing 39-38, WKU hit a shot in a crazy sequence that saw them force a pair of turnovers as UE worked to inbound the ball and turned it into five more points, forcing the Aces to use their first timeout of the second half with the Hilltoppers in front at 45-39.

The run continued for the Hilltoppers as they converted six out of seven attempts to take their first double figure lead at 52-41 before going up by a 55-41 score.  Just as fast as the Hilltoppers took control, Evansville stormed right back.  Haffner got things going with his third triple of the day while Pozzato followed with six in a row.  Tanner Cuff’s first trey of the game cut the deficit to 57-53.

Up 59-55, the Hilltoppers pulled away in the final minutes, utilizing a 10-0 run before taking the game by a final of 79-65.

Babacar Faye tied for the game-high with 19 points while hauling 12 boards.  The Hilltoppers finished with a 41-37 edge on the boards while outshooting UE by a 44.3%-36.1% tally.

The Aces look to get back on track when they host Chattanooga on Thursday.

-www.GoPurpleAces.com-

University of Southern Indiana Men’s Basketball battled to the last minute, but fell to Southern Illinois University Saturday afternoon at the Banterra Center in Carbondale, Illinois. The Screaming Eagles, whose winning streak stopped at three, are 4-5 overall this season, while the Salukis go to 4-6.

USI and SIU battled back and forth through the first 20 minutes of the game before the Salukis grabbed a 37-34 lead at the intermission. The half featured 13 combined ties and lead changes between the two teams.

The Eagles’ largest run of the half was 7-0 to snag a 28-27 lead with 2:53 left in the half, while the largest margin was three points, 11-8. USI sophomore forward Stephen Olowoniyi was the Eagles’ main offensive threat, scoring 20 of 34 first-half points.

The second half started much like the first half with the Eagles and the Salukis trading buckets until a three-point bucket by junior guard Jayland Randall put the Eagles up one, 46-45, with 14:58 left. The Salukis would respond to take back the lead and would lead by as many as eight, 62-54, with a 17-8 burst after the 10-minute mark.

USI would battle back to cut the deficit to 69-67 after a pair of Olowoniyi free throws and 72-70 on a three-pointer by Randall, but a SIU bucket and two free throws in the final 10 seconds would seal the Eagles’ fate 73-70. SIU also won the important battle of the glass, 35-24.

Olowoniyi was limited to four points in the second half and finished with a team-high and career-high 24 points. He was 10-of-11 from the field and four-of-five from the stripe.

Randall joined Olowoniyi in double-digits with 22 points, two short of a career-best. He was eight-of-14 from the field, three-of-three from downtown, and three-of-four from the stripe.

Next Up For USI:
USI begins a four-game homestand, its longest of the season, by hosting Shawnee State University December 15 at Liberty Arena. The homestand also includes the start of Ohio Valley Conference action with games versus Tennessee State University (December 19); the University of Tennessee at Martin (December 21), and Morehead State University (December 31).