VINCENNES, Ind. – The Vincennes University Lady Trailblazers tipped-off their postseason at the P.E. Complex Tuesday night and came away with a convincing 83-56 win over the Blue Angels.
Vincennes led the whole game, jumping out early in the first and riding the momentum of a 12-0 scoring run to open the third quarter to the win.
VU got the game started quickly, scoring the first four points of the game, before expanding their lead to 10-4 late in the first period.
The Blazers looked determined early and held a seven point lead after the first 10 minutes of play.
Vincennes opened the second quarter on a 6-0 scoring run to expand the lead into double-digits, where it would remain for the remainder of the game.
VU got their inside game going early, with the frontcourt pair of Alexis Radcliff and Nina Blade leading the charge early.
Radcliff went into the break with a game-high 12 points, with Blade close behind with eight.
The Trailblazers came out of the locker room firing as Vincennes opened the second half on a 12-0 scoring run, aided by a pair of three's from First Team All-Region 24 member Amani Brown to hold a 47-22 advantage.
Kaskaskia continued to fight but were not able to cut the lead to under 20 for long as VU led 62-40 heading into the fourth quarter.
Hall of Fame head coach Harry Meeks would empty his bench in the fourth quarter, allowing his starters to get more rest heading into the Semi-Finals, as the Blazers pulled away for the 83-56 opening round win.
"I thought we did a really good job of pushing the ball," Meeks said. "Getting the ball up and down the floor and that's how we like to play. I think a various times we got a little reckless with the ball, had some turnovers and bad passes. Then we've got all these freshmen playing and sometimes all they can see is the basket. But I was pleased with how hard we play and I think that carried over."
"I didn't think we shot the ball particularly well. We didn't get to the free throw line very much. We should have gone inside a little more. I would have like to see a little more scoring from the inside, because we're going to have to have that against good teams. We're going to have to score around the basket and I thought we did a better job in the first half of doing that than in the second half. I'm pleased with the win, pleased that we had so many players in double-figures. Style of play, for us, is very important and we like to run with the ball."
Vincennes was led offensively by Third Team All-Region 24 member Reeva Hammelman, who finished with a game-high 17 points, four assists and three rebounds.
Hammelman was just one of six Lady Blazers to reach double-figures in the point column, with Radcliff, Brown, Blade, Shaila Beeler and Trinitee Harris all finishing with 10 or more points.
Brown and Radcliff finished with 12 points each, with Brown adding six rebounds and five assists and Radcliff grabbing five boards.
Trinitee Harris came through with 11 points off the bench, while also grabbing five rebounds and getting a pair of blocks.
Nina Blade finished with 10 points and three rebounds and Shaila Beeler filled the stats sheet with 10 points, eight assists, six rebounds and three steals.
"Shaila did a really good job of handling the ball for us, she made some fantastic passes during the game to set up her teammates for baskets," Meeks added. "Reeva, she always comes ready to play. Reeva's going to be in the game, her head is going to be in the game, she's got a plan for what she's going to do. She carries out our assignments, she makes good passes and can shoot the ball, as her scoring average shows. She's a steadying influence on the team and turned into a really fine players this year. We're really proud of Reeva and she has a really big role on this team."
The Lady Blazers now advance to the Midwest District Semi-Finals, where they will host Rend Lake College, Thursday, April 8 at the P.E. Complex. Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m. eastern.
Vincennes defeated the Lady Warriors in both of their regular season meetings, including overcoming a 10-point deficit in the fourth quarter to win 78-77 on March 22.
"We're going to have to get the ball inside, we're going to have to play really good defense, they have two players what are First Team All-Region that are really good. They're a formidable opponent and that's going to be a really tough task for us. We beat them both time, but the old adage is, it's hard to beat a team three times. Both games we played them were tight games, so we have to be up for the game. We're going to have to play good defense, we'll have to do a really good job running our offense, but the defensive end is going to be very important."
