BELLEVILLE, Ill. – The Vincennes University Lady Trailblazers looked to be cruising to another Region 24 road victory Wednesday, leading the Lady Blue Storm of Southwestern Illinois College 41-16 at the half, before SWIC rallied in the second half to score 57 points in the final 20 minutes.
Vincennes was able to hang on to the lead however and escape Belleville with a 75-73 victory over SWIC.
The Lady Blazers got off to a slow start Wednesday night, with SWIC scoring the first four points of the game before VU answered back to take the lead at 5-4.
Vincennes would look to be rolling on all cylinders early as the Lady Blazers closed out the opening quarter of play on an 11-0 scoring run to take a 19-8 lead after the first 10 minutes of play.
The run would continue into the second quarter with the Lady Blazers again holding SWIC to single digit points in the quarter at the Blazers began to pull away and take a 41-16 lead into the halftime break.
Southwestern Illinois came out of the locker room looking determined to battle back into the game and set the tone early scoring the first eight points of the second half and later cutting the VU lead all the way down to two with an 11-0 run to close out the third quarter.
SWIC would cut the VU lead down to just a single point early in the fourth quarter at 56-55 before the Blazers answered back with five straight points.
The Lady Blue Storm would attempt another late comeback and get the deficit back down to two 63-61 before the Lady Blazers again expanded the lead to seven at 70-63.
SWIC would get an opportunity at the free throw line with under four seconds remaining to tie the game but could only come up with one of the two free throw attempts as the Lady Blazers come away with the 75-73 victory, their sixth straight and remain unbeaten at 4-0 in Region 24 play.
The Lady Blazers were led off the bench by sophomore Johnai Wimbleduff (Indianapolis, Ind.) who came through with 16 big points off the bench, while also dishing out a pair of assists.
Sophomore Elikya Baseyila (Paris, France) ended her night with 12 points and three rebounds, while fellow sophomore Maycee Lange (Vincennes, Ind.) ended with 10 points and six rebounds off the VU bench.
Freshman Karina Scott (Noblesville, Ind.) was the fourth VU scorer to reach double figures Wednesday night, ending with 10 points and a pair of steals.
Freshman Taylor Guess (Indianapolis, Ind.) just missed out on a double-double off the bench, finishing with eight points and a team-high nine rebounds and four steals.
Freshman Destinee Hooks (Indianapolis, Ind.) finished the game with eight points, four rebounds and a team-high five assists and four steals.
The Lady Trailblazers will face another tough Region road test this weekend when the Blazers travel to Olney, Ill. to take on Olney Central College Saturday, Jan. 20. This game is scheduled to tip-off at 6 p.m. eastern.
The Lady Blazers will then return home for a string of five straight home games, beginning with facing Lincoln Trail College from Robinson, Ill. Wednesday, Jan. 24 at 5 p.m. eastern.
VINCENNES BOX SCORE
VINCENNES (75): Destinee Hooks 3-8 2-6 8, Karina Scott 3-6 3-4 10, Katrina Litte 1-2 0-0 2, Brie Miller 2-3 0-0 4, Elikya Baseyila 5-7 2-3 12, Giavonnie Belton 1-2 2-2 5, Makyla Tucker 0-3 0-0 0, Najra Voloder 0-0 0-0 0, Johnai Wimbleduff 6-11 3-5 16, Maycee Lange 5-9 0-1 10, Team 29-59 14-27 75.
VU (9-7, 4-0) – 19 22 11 23 – 75
Southwestern Illinois – 8 8 34 23 – 73
Three-point goals: VU 3 (Scott, Belton, Wimbleduff). Rebounds: VU 33 (Guess 9). Assists: VU 19 (Hooks 5, Litte 5). Steals: VU 13 (Hooks 4, Guess 4). Blocked shots: VU 4 (Hooks, Baseyila, Guess, Lange). Turnovers: VU 27. Personal Fouls: VU 27. Fouled out: None. Technical Fouls VU Coach (4 – 3:11).