Women’s basketball: Olivet defeats Trine, 73-59

Updated 2/15 at 6 p.m.

OLIVET, Mich. – The Olivet College women's basketball team forced Trine (Ind.) University to 30.5 percent shooting, including 24.0 percent in the first half, and defeated the Thunder, 73-59, tonight at The Cutler Event Center in Olivet. With the win, the Comets move into a tie with Trine for fourth-place in the Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association (MIAA) standings with a 7-6 record.

The Thunder's last lead in the game was 7-6. Freshman Ayren Parrish put Olivet ahead for good with a driving layup to make the score 8-7. The Comets stretched their lead to as many as 16 points, 37-21, in the final 26 seconds of the opening half. Ashley Elliott made a jumper for Trine right before the buzzer for a 37-23 halftime score.

Olivet pushed its lead back to 18 points, 41-23, with two quick baskets to start the second half. The Thunder then went on a 13-2 scoring spurt to cut their deficit down to single digits, 43-36. The Comets responded with seven consecutive points to build their lead back to double figures, 50-36. Trine trimmed the Olivet lead to 10 points twice, with the last time being, 65-55, with 1:07 left in the game.

Coming off the bench for the first time in two seasons, senior Stefanie Lang led all players with 19 points and 13 rebounds in 20 minutes. Junior Bre Kidd scored 10 points and grabbed nine rebounds. Parrish scored nine points, while senior Carli Reid had eight points and six rebounds.

The Thunder were led by Whitney Shaffer's team-high 16 points. Ashley Elliott and Kayla Dunn contributed 12 and 11 points, respectively.

The Comets are at Hope College for a 3 p.m. contest Saturday afternoon.

NOTE: With the win, Nicole Burford led the Comets to their 62nd win during her tenure as head coach. The 62 wins are the most by a women's basketball coach in school history.