Women’s basketball team defeats Trine, 59-54

ANGOLA, Ind. – The Olivet College women's basketball team moved into a tie for fifth-place in the Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association (MIAA) standings with a 59-54 win over Trine (Ind.) University this afternoon at Hershey Hall in Angola, Ind. With the win, the Comets avenge a 53-51 loss to the Thunder earlier this season. Olivet is tied with Trine and Adrian for fifth.

The Comets led by four points, 6-2, in the early stages of the game. The Thunder came back with a 5-0 run to take the lead back 7-6. The teams traded baskets and free throws until Trine surged ahead by three points, 13-10, at the 6:56 mark.

Olivet quickly tied the game on a 3-pointer by sophomore Kelsey Campbell (Olivet). The Thunder scored three straight points on a jumper and free throw to go back up by three, 16-13. Campbell hit another triple to tie the game at 16-16. After Trine took the lead on a layup, junior Mellissa Bageris (Milford) hit a 3-pointer to put the Comets ahead by one, 19-18.

The Thunder gained the lead back, 20-10, on two foul shots. Olivet scored five straight points on a 3-pointer by Bageris and layup by junior Brittany Brown (Inkster/John Glenn) to equal its largest lead of the half, 24-20. Trine trimmed its deficit in half with a fastbreak basket.

Campbell then gave the Comets their largest lead of the half, 27-22, when she nailed a 3-pointer with five seconds left before halftime. The score stayed there at the break.

The Thunder opened the second half 15-2 run to take their biggest lead of the game, 37-29, at the 14:26 mark. Over the next 11 minutes, Olivet scored 20 of the next 22 points to go up by 10 points, 49-39, with 3:32 left in the game.

The Comets would stretch their lead to as many as 11 points twice. The last time was 55-44 at the 1:12 mark. Trine would get no closer than five points for the rest of the game.

Campbell played all 40 minutes and finished with a career-high 21 points. She also had five assists, five steals and six rebounds. Sophomore Rachael Wagner (Clinton Twp./Fraser) came off the bench to score nine points, as Olivet's bench players outscored the Thunder's bench, 15-6. Brown and junior SoQuitta DeShazor (Flint/Hamady) each scored eight points. DeShazor grabbed a team-high eight rebounds. The Comets out-rebounded Trine, 39-25, including a +13 margin (19-6) on the offensive glass.

The Thunder had four starters reach double figures. Sydney Spragg led the way with 12, followed by Danielle Senf's 11, Haley Killingbeck's 10 and Megan Loveberry's 10.

Olivet will play its next game in one week, Jan. 28, when it welcomes Kalamazoo College to The Cutler Event Center for a 1 p.m. game. The game is the first of a women's/men's basketball doubleheader, as the Comet men will host Albion College following the women's game.