Fourth quarter comeback leads Lady Blazers over Southwestern Illinois

VINCENNES, Ind. – The Vincennes University Lady Trailblazers returned to the home floor Saturday afternoon for a Region 24 showdown with Southwestern Illinois College from Belleville, Ill.

The Lady Blazers found themselves trailing 50-42 after three quarters but were able to get the momentum back and come away with a big 65-62 victory over the Lady Blue Storm.

Vincennes went toe to toe with the Lady Blue Storm right from the tip with the two teams battling in a back and forth first quarter of play with Southwestern Illinois coming out of the first 10 minutes of action with a narrow 16-15 lead.

VU continued to battle in the second quarter, after falling behind 26-22, the Lady Blazers closed out the first half with six straight points to take a 28-26 lead into the locker room at the break.

Coming out in the second half Southwestern Illinois grabbed the early momentum with a 10-2 scoring run to go ahead 36-30.

The Lady Blue Storm would maintain this lead throughout the rest of the third period with Vincennes heading into the fourth quarter trailing 50-42.

Early in the fourth quarter the momentum shifted back to the Vincennes sideline as VU connected on a pair of threes early in the fourth quarter and opened the final 10 minutes of play with eight straight to even the score at 50-50.

SWIC would get the lead back and held a 57-55 advantage late in the fourth before Vincennes once again was able to connect on a pair of three-point plays to grab the lead back and get the home crowd energized with a 63-57 lead.

The Lady Blue Storm would not go away quietly however, getting back within one point of the Lady Blazers and holding the ball with 20 seconds remaining, SWIC looked to draw up a play to get the final shot.

The VU defense ramped up the pressure on the out of bounds play and forced a Blue Storm turnovers which forced SWIC to foul and send Vincennes to the free throw line.

After connecting on both free throw attempts Southwestern Illinois had one more chance to send the game into overtime but were unable to convert as Vincennes came away with the 65-62 victory over the Lady Blue Storm.

The Lady Blazers were led offensively by sophomore Marta Gutierrez (Alicante, Spain) who finished with 17 points and seven rebounds in the game.

Freshman Ahmya Thomas (Phoenix, Ariz.) found her three-point shot early and was able to finish the game with 12 points, five assists and four steals.

Freshman Delora Pricop (Satu Mare, Romania) just missed out on another double-double Saturday afternoon, finishing with 11 points and eight rebounds.

Freshman Jazmyn Robey (Sellersburg, Ind.) was the fourth Lady Blazer in double figures, finishing with 11 points and a pair of rebounds.

Freshman Emani Washington (Indianapolis, Ind.) moved the VU offense throughout the game, finishing with eight points and a team-high seven assists.

The Lady Blazers will look to keep this momentum going as VU now prepares for another tough challenge against No. 7 ranked Wabash Valley College Wednesday, Feb. 12 at 5 p.m. eastern, inside the P.E. Complex.

This game will not count towards the Region 24 standings, as the regularly scheduled Region 24 matchup between VU and the Lady Warriors is set for Saturday, March 1.

VINCENNES BOX SCORE

VINCENNES (65): Delora Pricop 5-12 1-1 11, Ahmya Thomas 5-11 0-0 12, Jazmyn Robey 4-11 1-1 11, Marta Gutierrez 6-9 4-4 17, Emani Washington 2-8 2-2 8, Yanni Huggins 1-1 0-0 2, Netala Dixon 1-7 2-3 4, Team 24-59 10-11 65.

Southwestern Illinois – 16   10   24   12 – 62

VU (13-12, 7-3) – 15   13   14   23 – 65

Three-point goals: VU 7 (Thomas 2, Robey 2, Washington 2, Gutierrez). Rebounds: VU 28 (Pricop 8). Assists: VU 18 (Washington 7). Steals: VU 14 (Thomas 4). Blocked Shots: VU 5 (Dixon 3). Turnovers: VU 16. Personal Fouls: VU 14. Fouled out: Pricop.