INA, Ill. – The Vincennes University Lady Trailblazers snapped a two-game losing streak with an impressive road win over Rend Lake College Wednesday night.
VU faced an 11-point deficit after the first quarter but continued to power through to comeback and get the 82-71 Region 24 win.
Rend Lake opened the game by going on a 9-4 scoring run and their lead only grew from there. The VU offense struggle again to start the game but managed to keep the game from getting out of hand as the Warriors held a 25-14 lead after 10 minutes of play.
The Lady Blazers responded in the second quarter, opening up on a 13-2 scoring run, led by a trio of threes from Reeva Hammelman to tie the game at 27-all.
Vincennes was not able to get the lead however, as Rend Lake held tough to take a 42-39 halftime lead into the locker room.
VU would take the lead midway through the third quarter at 47-46, their first lead since 4-3 early in the first quarter, before Rend Lake responded to take the lead back and build a seven-point advantage.
The Blazers would close out the third quarter on a 9-0 run to head into the final 10 minutes of play up by two.
Sophomore guard Shaila Beeler led the charge for VU in the third period, scoring 11 points in the quarter.
Vincennes would not relinquish the lead in the fourth quarter, building an 11-point advantage at 72-61 before finishing off the game at the free throw line to get their eighth win of the season.
VU was led offensively by Reeva Hammelman and Shaila Beeler, who finished with 15 points each. Beeler also led the Blazers with eight rebounds, while also dishing out three assists.
Hammelman added five rebounds, four assists and three steals to her line in the win.
Amani Brown finished with 14 points, 10 of which coming in the first half, while swiping a team-high four steals on the night.
Trinitee Harris and Alexis Radcliff also reached double-figures in the score column for VU, with Harris adding five rebounds and four assists off the bench and Radcliff grabbing five boards of her own.
The victory gives Hall of Fame head coach Harry Meeks his 699th career win as head coach at VU.
Meeks will go for No. 700 when VU hosts Lincoln Trail at the P.E. Complex Saturday, March 13. Tip-off is set for 5 p.m. eastern.