Lady Trailblazers win big in home opener over Kennedy-King

VINCENNES, Ind. – The Vincennes University Lady Trailblazers got their first chance to play in front of the home fans this season Saturday night hosting Kennedy King College from Chicago on homecoming weekend.

The Lady Blazers got their first win of the season with a big 111-40 victory over the Lady Statesmen, also notching career win number one for VU Interim Head Coach Ingrida Hartsfield.

VU got the game off to a great start, opening the game on a 20-3 scoring run before continuing to roll through the first quarter ending the period with five straight points to lead 29-8 after the first 10 minutes of action.

Vincennes took their game to another level in the second quarter, heading into halftime by outscoring the Lady Statesmen 25-4 to take a commanding 66-15 lead into the halftime break.

The Lady Blazers continued to play tough in the second half, using a 16-2 scoring run to close out the third quarter and increase their lead to 95-28 going into the fourth.

VU worked on their game into the fourth quarter, getting some good game experience down the stretch while closing out the big 111-40 victory over Kennedy-King to secure their first win of the season.

"It was very exciting and I think the girls came ready to play," VU Interim Head Coach Ingrida Hartsfield said. "They were ready to get that first win too. It was just good to see them pushing the ball, running the floor and just getting used to their true roles. It was good to see them finding their shots and creating the shots and finding their teammates. Playing good defense and getting steals."

"It's amazing," Hartsfield added about securing her first career coaching win. "I will forever remember this night. It was very special and being a former Trailblazers and playing under NJCAA Hall of Famer Harry Meeks. Vincennes is where it all started for me since I came to VU as a player. Vincennes has always been near to my heart and the people in the community that is around is very close to my heart. I just appreciate all of the support. It's just special. There's no place like Vincennes."

The Lady Blazers spread the scoring out well, with all eight players scoring at least eight points and five of VU's players scoring in double figures on the night.

VU was led by freshman Netala Dixon (Dyersburg, Tenn.) who got the scoring started early with 21 points, all in the first half, to go along with six rebounds and five assists.

Sophomore Kennedy Johnson-Corley (Clarksville, Tenn.) picked up another double-double Saturday night, using a big third quarter scoring run to finish her night with 21 points,13 rebounds and three steals.

Freshman Delora Pricop (Brasov, Romania) was able to use her size inside to come away with 18 points and eight rebounds on the night, while freshman Ahmya Thomas (Phoenix, Ariz.) nearly completed a triple-double coming off the bench, ending the night with 14 points and a team high nine assists and nine steals.

Freshman Yanni Huggins (Belleville, Mich.) was the fifth Lady Trailblazer scorer in double figures, picking up 11 points and three rebounds.

Sophomore Marta Chico (Chabas, Spain) and freshman Kiera Gant (Sellersburg, Ind.) each finished the game with nine points, with Chico adding five rebounds and five steals, while Gant added six assists and four steals.

Freshman Emani Washington (Indianapolis, Ind.) rounded out the Lady Trailblazer box score, finishing with eight points, five assists and four rebounds in the game.

"This week we've put a lot of time into being more aggressive," Hartsfield said. "Being aggressive towards the basket, finding our owns shots and rebounding and boxing out. I think Netala, that's who she is, she's a scorer. She filled her role and did her job."

"Kennedy, these first few games she's performed well for us every game and her points are quiet," Hartsfield added. "I had no idea she had 21 points and 13 rebounds. I feel like, for Kennedy, it just comes very naturally. She just finds the ball and of course she can score the ball."

The Lady Blazers will look to keep this momentum going into their next game when VU travels to Park Hills, Mo. Monday, Nov. 11 to take on Mineral Area College at 2 p.m. eastern.

VU fell to the Lady Cardinals 87-69 to begin the 2024-25 season at the Moberly Area Classic Nov. 1.

"This will definitely be a tough game," Hartsfield said. "I hope that we can build on what we did tonight and worked on throughout this week. We worked a lot on moving the ball and making the right passes, attacking the basket, being more aggressive and playing better defense. So I hope we can just build on that and use our strengths of being fast and getting steals and I believe they will. Today was a good booster for them to keep going."

VINCENNES BOX SCORE

VINCENNES (111): Delora Pricop 8-14 1-2 18, Marta Chico 4-11 0-0 9, Kiera Gant 3-6 1-1 9, Netala Dixon 9-15 2-3 21, Kennedy Johnson-Corley 9-14 2-3 21, Ahmya Thomas 4-7 5-5 14, Yanni Huggins 5-8 0-2 11, Emani Washington 2-4 2-2 8, Team 44-79 13-18 111.

Kennedy-King – 8   7   13   12 – 40

VU (1-2) – 29   37   29   16 – 111

Three-point goals: VU 10 (Washington 2, Gant 2, Pricop, Chico, Dixon, Johnson-Corley, Thomas, Huggins). Rebounds: VU 44 (Johnson-Corley 13). Assists: VU 32 (Thomas 9). Steals: VU 27 (Thomas 9). Blocked Shots: VU 8 (Gant 2, Washington 2). Turnovers: VU 24. Personal Fouls: VU 19. Fouled out: None.