VINCENNES, Ind. – In what could best be described as a 'trap game' the Vincennes University Lady Trailblazers hosted the 3-15 Southwestern Illinois Lady Blue Storm just two days ahead of hosting the No. 12-ranked Wabash Valley Warriors.
Vincennes avoided the trap of looking ahead to Thursday however, as the Lady Blazers finished off a convincing 97-53 win over SWIC.
VU got the scoring started early, with Reeva Hammelman and Shaila Beeler connecting from long range to give the Blazers a quick 6-0 lead.
The lead would continue to grow from 20 points at the end of the first quarter, to 30 at halftime, as Vincennes carried a 53-23 advantage into the locker room.
Amani Brown got the Trailblazer offense going early, leading VU with 12 points at the break. Brown was followed by freshman guard Noni Russell, who provided a spark off the bench offensively, scoring nine before the break.
Vincennes used their bench players throughout the second half, but still the blue and gold lead continued to grow. VU led 74-39 heading into the final 10 minutes of play.
The Trailblazers capped off the win in the fourth, continuing to find easy shots close to the basket as VU finished off the 97-53 win.
"I thought we played really good. One of the goals I had tonight was for our defense to pick up and not give up as many points as we've been giving up and I thought in the first-half our defense was really good," VU Hall of Fame head coach Harry Meeks said. "We got down and stopped the drives, made them take some off-balance shots, so I was really pleased with that."
"We continued to push the ball and run. I like that style of basketball and I like layups. We got to play everybody; everyone did a good job. There are not many negatives from this game, I just thought we played hard and were able to maintain that and I think that was one of the factors that gave us an advantage in an overwhelming win."
VU sophomore point guard Shaila Beeler ran the offense throughout the game Thursday night, on her way to the first double-double of her VU career, finishing with 10 points and 10 assists on the night.
"Shaila has done a really good job for us and she has basically had to play herself back into playing shape because she didn't get much of an offseason. She tore her PCL right before practice was supposed to start for us, then we had all sorts of things that didn't allow her to have her normal preseason."
"We've had to watch how we play her and she played outstanding today. She did a lot of things I knew she could do and I don't think anybody around here has seen the real Shaila Beeler, simply because of her injury. But she's come back, she's really fought through It and she's doing a really good job at this point and I congratulate her on staying with it and being a big factor in today's game."
Vincennes' leading point scorer was Amani Brown, who finished with 18 points and four rebounds.
Brown and Beeler were just two of six Trailblazers who would reach double figures. Noni Russell set a new career-high with 16 points off the bench, along with Alexis Radcliff's 11 points and six rebounds, Reeva Hammelman's 10 points, five rebounds and four assists and Trinitee Harris' 12 points, six boards, four assists and four steals off the bench.
Vincennes shared the ball well offensively, with all 10 players scoring in the game and with VU recording 26 assists on 40 made shots.
Enija Brown-Griffin and Candela Lascorz controlled the game on the glass for VU off the bench. With the frontcourt pair combining for 21 of Vincennes' 58 rebounds.
Brown-Griffin nearly completed a double-double, finishing with eight points and a team-high 11 rebounds. Lascorz finished with two points, 10 rebounds and a pair of steals.
"We've spent the last two days in practice just running our offense. I thought we passed the ball extremely well, I thought we didn't have as many turnovers as we've been having. We've emphasized the point that the basketball is the most important thing on the floor and we have to take care of it when it's ours. We need to get good shots and not turn the ball over and I thought we did a good job of that. I thought we did an exceptional job with handling the ball and passing the ball, consequently we got some easy wide-open shots."
The win puts the Lady Blazers at 15-3 on the season, riding an eight-game winning streak as VU now prepares to host No. 12 Wabash Valley Thursday, Apr. 1 at the P.E. Complex.
This matchup between the two teams at the top of the Region 24 standings will serve as the regular-season finale for the Lady Blazers, as VU will be honoring their sophomores just before the 5 p.m. eastern tip-off.
Thursday Vincennes University will also be honoring head coach Harry Meeks on his induction into the NJCAA Women's Basketball Hall of Fame this past summer and his recent 700-win milestone at halftime of the VU men's basketball game.
"We'll have quite a lengthy film study on Wabash Valley tomorrow. We'll get out on the floor and loosen up and try to prepare ourselves for them. Wabash Valley is an excellent team. Luke (Scheidecker, WVC head coach) has done a really good job with them. They keep beating everybody, so I'm hoping the Trailblazers can meet the task here."
"I love playing them every year. It's probably the two games I look forward to the most every year is playing Wabash. We've had runs on them of beating them for four or five years and now they're in the middle of a run on us and we need to come out and compete and see what we can do to assure ourselves of a victory. That includes playing good defense, taking care of the ball, those are going to be big factors heading into Thursday's game."
