Lady Blazers unable to overcome slow start in road showdown at Mineral Area

PARK HILLS, Mo. – The Vincennes University Lady Trailblazers hit the road Monday afternoon for a special Veterans Day matinee against the Lady Cardinals of Mineral Area College.

The Lady Blazers got off to a slow start, scoring only eight points in the opening quarter and ultimately came out on the wrong end of an 80-57 final score to host Mineral Area College.

Vincennes got off to a slow start to begin the game, with the Lady Cardinals opening a 13-3 early advantage, before extending their lead to 23-8 after the first 10 minutes of action.

The Mineral Area lead continued to grow early in the second quarter with a 7-0 scoring run by the Lady Cardinals increasing the lead to 39-18.

VU battled down the stretch of the opening half of basketball but were unable to make a sizable dent in the deficit before the break as Mineral Area headed into the locker room leading 46-27.

Coming out in the second half it looked like the Lady Cardinals were going to put the game away early, scoring the first six points of the third quarter.

But the Lady Blazers were able to get some offensive momentum going late in the third period sparked by back-to-back three-pointers by sophomore Marta Chico (Chabas, Spain), VU used a 12-0 scoring run to cut the Lady Cardinal lead to 58-44.

Mineral Area would head into the fourth quarter still holding a 62-44 advantage and look to close out the game strong early in the fourth quarter, opening the period by outscoring VU 14-2 to take a 76-46 lead.

The Lady Trailblazers fought to the final horn, closing out the game on a 9-2 scoring run but were unable to overcome the deficit as Mineral Area College picked up the 80-57 victory over Vincennes.

The Lady Blazers were once again led offensively by sophomore Kennedy Johnson-Corley (Clarksville, Tenn.) who got the scoring going early for VU, getting 14 of her 16 points in the first half, while also grabbing three rebounds.

Freshman Netala Dixon (Dyersburg, Tenn.) finished the game with 14 points and a team-high four assists to go along with three rebounds.

Freshman Delora Pricop (Brasov, Romania) picked up a big double-double off the bench Monday afternoon, finishing with 10 points, 10 rebounds and five blocks almost entirely in the second half.

Sophomore Marta Chico connected on a pair of threes in the game to give her eight points to go along with a pair of assists.

The Lady Trailblazers will return home to the Physical Education Complex Friday, Nov. 15 when they get set to take on Owens Community College at 7 p.m. eastern on the first day of the 2024 VU Classic.

Vincennes will then close out the weekend classic Saturday, Nov. 16 against Moberly Area Community College at 5 p.m. eastern on Hurricane Relief Night at the Physical Education Complex.

Fans can get free admission into the VU men's and women's doubleheader Saturday, Nov. 16 with a donation of paper towels or toilet paper. Donations will go to support those still in need from the effects of Hurricane Helene.

VINCENNES BOX SCORE

VINCENNES (57): Marta Chico 3-7 0-0 8, Kiera Gant 1-5 1-2 4, Yanni Huggins 1-3 0-0 2, Netala Dixon 5-12 3-4 14, Kennedy Johnson-Corley 5-11 5-8 16, Ahmya Thomas 0-1 0-0 0, Emani Washington 1-6 0-0 3, Delora Pricop 3-11 4-4 10, Team 19-56 13-18 57.

VU (1-3) – 8   19   17   13 – 57

Mineral Area – 23   23   16   18 – 80

Three-point goals: VU 6 (Chico 2, Gant, Dixon, Johnson-Corley, Washington). Rebounds: VU 24 (Pricop 10). Assists: VU 14 (Dixon 4). Steals: VU 9 (Thomas 2, Washington 2). Blocked Shots: VU 5 (Pricop 5). Turnovers: VU 18. Personal Fouls: VU 14. Fouled out: None.