Lady Blazers fall in road showdown at Rock Valley College

ROCKFORD, Ill. – The Vincennes University Lady Trailblazers hit the road to close out a busy week of NJCAA basketball, heading up north to Rockford, Ill. to face off against the Golden Eagles of Rock Valley College.

The Lady Blazers battled tough but came out on the wrong side of an 81-67 final score to the Golden Eagles.

Vincennes got off to a quick start Saturday afternoon, opening the game on a 7-2 scoring run to take an early lead.

Rock Valley would answer back on their home floor however, scoring eight straight on their way to closing out the first quarter on an 11-4 run to take a 13-11 lead after the first 10 minutes of play.

Rock Valley began to expand their lead in the second quarter, using a late 15-2 scoring run to build their lead up to 44-26 at the halftime break.

The Golden Eagles continued to push early in the third quarter, getting the lead up to 31 at 63-32 before the Lady Blazers scored the final eight points of the period to head into the fourth trailing 63-40.

The Lady Blazers continued to fight in the fourth quarter as Rock Valley looked to cruise down the stretch after getting their lead to 77-51, the Lady Blazers closed out the contest by outscoring Rock Valley 16-4.

The VU offense was able to get going late as Vincennes capped off the game by outscoring the Golden Eagles 27-18 in the fourth quarter but ultimately ran out of time to complete the late comeback as the Lady Blazers fell by the final score of 81-67.

The Lady Blazers were led offensively Saturday afternoon by freshman Delora Pricop (Satu Mare, Romania) who battled early foul trouble to finish the game with 20 points and six rebounds.

Freshman Ahmya Thomas (Phoenix, Ariz.) got her offensive game going in the second half, scoring 12 of her 17 points in the final 20 minutes, while also leading the Lady Blazers with eight rebounds and four steals.

Sophomore Marta Gutierrez (Alicante, Spain) was the next Lady Blazer scorer, finishing the game with 11 points and a team-high five assists to go along with four rebounds.

Freshman Emani Washington (Indianapolis, Ind.) was the fourth Lady Blazer in double-figures, ending her game with 11 points, four rebounds and three assists.

The Lady Blazers will look to bounce back and get back in the win column when they return home Wednesday, Jan. 22 when VU hosts Olney Central College at 5 p.m. eastern.

VINCENNES BOX SCORE

VINCENNES (67): Ahmya Thomas 6-20 3-8 17, Marta Gutierrez 4-8 2-2 11, Emani Washington 5-13 0-0 11, Netala Dixon 1-8 2-2 4, Delora Pricop 10-18 0-0 20, Yanni Huggins 2-2 0-0 4, Team 28-69 7-12 67.

Rock Valley – 13   31   19   18 – 81

VU (9-10, 4-1) – 11   15   14   27 – 67

Three-point goals: VU 4 (Thomas 2, Gutierrez, Washington). Rebounds: VU 34 (Thomas 8). Assists: VU 18 (Gutierrez 5). Steals: VU 10 (Thomas 4). Blocked Shots: VU 2 (Pricop, Huggins). Turnovers: VU 22. Personal Fouls: VU 17. Fouled out: Pricop. Technical Fouls: VU Bench (3rd – 5:08).