No. 2 seed Lady Blazers fall in Region 24 Semifinals

MATTOON, Ill. – The Vincennes University Lady Trailblazers continued their postseason run Tuesday night in the NJCAA Division I Region 24 Semifinals at Lake Land College in Mattoon, Ill.

The Lady Blazers faced off against No. 3 seed Southwestern Illinois College and fell to the Lady Blue Storm 83-57.

The Lady Blazers opened the game strong, taking a quick 4-2 lead over the Lady Blue Storm before SWIC answered back with six straight points to take an 8-4 early lead.

The teams traded baskets for the rest of the opening quarter with Southwestern Illinois holding onto a 19-14 advantage after the first 10 minutes of play.

SWIC came out in the second quarter firing, opening the second period by outscoring VU 24-5 to extend their lead to 43-19.

Vincennes continued to battle before the halftime break, answering shot for shot down the stretch to head into the locker room break trailing SWIC 51-28.

The second half started as a back-and-forth battle of runs, with SWIC cracking first with six straight, which was answered by six straight by Vincennes with the Lady Blue Storm rallying back with seven straight before the end of the period.

VU sophomore Netala Dixon (Dyersburg, Tenn.) hit a shot at the buzzer to cut the deficit to 68-45 heading into the fourth quarter.

Vincennes kept applying pressure in the fourth quarter, battling all the way to the final buzzer but were unable to overcome the big deficit as Southwestern Illinois came away with the 83-57 victory over the Lady Blazers.

Freshman Delora Pricop (Satu Mare, Romania) led the Lady Blazers offensively Tuesday night, scoring 21 points and grabbing 16 rebounds to secure another big double-double, while also adding five blocks in the game.

Sophomore Marta Gutierrez (Alicante, Spain) was the second Lady Trailblazer scorer in double-figures, ending the game with 11 points, six rebounds and five assists.

Freshman Emani Washington (Indianapolis, Ind.) ended her night with seven points, six rebounds and a team-high six assists and four steals.

Freshman Ahmya Thomas (Phoenix, Ariz.) also finished the game with seven points, while adding five rebounds and three assists.

The Lady Trailblazers likely end their season with a final record of 17-15, with an 11-5 record against Region 24 opponents.

VINCENNES BOX SCORE

VINCENNES (57): Ahmya Thomas 2-8 2-2 7, Jazmyn Robey 2-6 0-0 6, Marta Gutierrez 5-13 0-2 11, Emani Washington 2-13 2-2 7, Delora Pricop 9-18 2-4 21, Iris Comesana 1-5 0-0 2, Netala Dixon 1-3 1-2 3, Team 22-66 7-12 57.

Southwestern Illinois – 19   32   17   15 – 83

VU (17-15, 11-5) – 14   14   17   12 – 57

Three-point goals: VU 6 (Robey 2, Thomas, Gutierrez, Washington, Pricop). Rebounds: VU 38 (Pricop 16). Assists: VU 16 (Washington 6). Steals: VU 9 (Washington 4). Blocked Shots: VU 5 (Pricop 5). Turnovers: VU 20. Personal Fouls: VU 14. Fouled out: Thomas.