OLNEY, Ill. – The Vincennes University Lady Trailblazers winning streak continues to grow after Saturday night's 83-73 victory over Olney Central College in Olney, Ill.
The Lady Blazers found themselves tied with the Lady Blue Knights at the halftime break, before coming out and exploding for 35 points in the third quarter to pick up their seventh straight victory and 10th win of the season.
VU got off to a slow start as both teams struggled early to put the ball in the basket. Vincennes was finally able to get on the board first and scored the first five points of the game.
Olney Central then quickly shifted momentum by going on a 10-0 scoring run to take the lead and close out the opening quarter of play holding a 19-15 advantage.
After a strong start to the second quarter for the Lady Blue Knights, the Lady Blazers would answer back with a 9-0 scoring run to take the lead back at 28-26 with just under four minutes remaining before halftime.
Olney would answer with five straight points before VU ended the quarter on a 5-2 scoring run to even the score at 33-33 heading into the locker room break.
The physicality of this Region 24 showdown really took charge in the third quarter, with both teams quickly finding themselves in the bonus and shooting free throws for most of the period.
VU would look to take control of the game with a big 21-2 scoring run to take a 54-42 lead.
The Vincennes lead would continue to grow to 15 before Olney Central hit a layup at the buzzer to cut the deficit to 68-55 heading into the fourth quarter.
Vincennes would continue to ride this momentum and take their largest lead of the night at 74-57 early in the fourth quarter before Olney Central rallied and got the home crowd back into it with 11 unanswered to cut the deficit to 74-68.
The Lady Blue Knights would cut the VU lead down to just four points but were unable to get any closer as VU closed out another strong Region 24 road victory by the final score of 83-73.
The Lady Trailblazers were led offensively by freshman Destinee Hooks (Indianapolis, Ind.) who came off the bench to just miss out on a double-double with 20 points, nine rebounds and a team-high six steals.
Sophomore Brie Miller (Bainbridge, Ind.) also just missed out on a double-double, finishing her night with 14 points and nine rebounds.
Freshman Makyla Tucker (Indianapolis, Ind.) reached double figures of the VU bench Saturday night, ending with 12 points and a pair of assists.
Sophomore Johnai Wimbleduff (Indianapolis, Ind.) finished the game with nine points off the VU bench, along with freshman Giavonnie Belton (Indianapolis, Ind.) who also finished with nine points, coming off of three third quarter threes.
The Lady Blazers will look to continue this red hot winning streak into next week when VU returns to the Physical Education Complex to host Lincoln Trail College Wednesday, Jan. 24 at 5 p.m. eastern.
VU will then turn their attention to Saturday, Jan. 27 when Vincennes gets their first look at No. 8 Wabash Valley College in the P.E. Complex. Tip-off time for that game is also set for 5 p.m. eastern.
VINCENNES BOX SCORE
Karina Scott 0-5 2-2 2, Katrina Litte 0-4 5-5 5, Brie Miller 4-10 6-7 14, Elikya Baseyila 1-2 0-0 2, Maycee Lange 1-6 0-0 2, Destinee Hooks 9-20 1-3 20, Giavonnie Belton 3-5 0-0 9, Makyla Tucker 5-10 2-2 12, Najra Voloder 0-0 4-6 4, Taylor Guess 2-4 0-0 4, Johnai Wimbleduff 4-9 1-2 9, Team 29-75 21-27 83.
VU (10-7, 5-0) – 15 18 35 15 – 83
Olney Central – 19 14 22 18 – 73
Three-point goals: VU 4 (Belton 3, Hooks). Rebounds: VU 43 (Miller 9, Hooks 9). Assists: VU 20 (Scott 6). Steals: VU 18 (Hooks 6). Blocked Shots: VU 6 (Lange 2, Guess 2). Turnovers: VU 14. Personal Fouls: VU 31. Fouled out: Voloder, Guess. Technical Fouls: Baseyila (1 – 6:00).