Lady Blazers drop road showdown at No. 7 Three Rivers College

POPLAR BLUFF, Mo. – The Vincennes University Lady Trailblazers hit the road Saturday afternoon for a showdown with the Lady Raiders of Three Rivers College.

This serves as the toughest test so far this season for the Lady Trailblazers as Three Rivers College checks in this week at No. 7 in the NJCAA Division I National rankings.

The Lady Blazers bounced back from a slow start and battled the whole game but unfortunately came out on the wrong end of an 82-59 final score.

It was a tough start for the Lady Trailblazers Saturday afternoon as the Lady Raiders came out firing on their home court, scoring the first 14 points to open the contest.

VU would get back on track and cut the deficit to 16-7 before Three Rivers again expanded the lead to hold a 23-9 advantage after the first 10 minutes of play.

Vincennes opened the second quarter strong, cutting the Three Rivers lead down to five by opening the second period on a 13-4 scoring run.

Three Rivers would once again swing the momentum back and ride the wave of the home crowd into halftime by outscoring VU 12-2 to take a 42-24 lead into the locker room break.

The Lady Trailblazers truly shined in the third quarter, making the appropriate halftime adjustments and outscoring Three Rivers 20-10 in the third period.

Vincennes got back within single digits going into the fourth quarter of play, trailing Three Rivers 52-44.

VU carried this momentum into the early stages of the fourth quarter, working all the way back to being within four points of the No. 7 ranked Lady Raiders before Three Rivers put their game into overdrive.

Three Rivers got a big boost down the stretch with a 14-1 scoring run to go up 77-53.

The Lady Blazers continued to fight, forcing turnovers and turning defense into easy fast break baskets on the offensive side but unfortunately ran out of time on a last second comeback attempt at Three Rivers closed out the game by the final score of 82-59.

VU was led offensively by freshman Ahmya Thomas (Phoenix, Ariz.) who led the Lady Blazers with 20 points, including being a perfect 8 for 8 from the free throw line, while also come through defensively with eight steals.

Freshman Delora Pricop (Satu Mare, Romania) finished off her third double-double of the season, ending her night with 12 points, 10 rebounds and three blocks.

Freshman Netala Dixon (Dyersburg, Tenn.) came off the bench to score in double figures for the seventh time this season, scoring 10 points and dishing out six assists in the game.

Sophomore Marta Gutierrez (Alicante, Spain) was just shy of being the fourth VU scorer in double figures, finishing the game with nine points, two assists and two steals.

The Lady Trailblazers will return home after the Thanksgiving holiday as VU gets set to host Mineral Area College Saturday, Nov. 30 inside the Physical Education Complex at 3 p.m. eastern.

VINCENNES BOX SCORE

VINCENNES (59): Ahmya Thomas 6-12 8-8 20, Iris Comesana 1-1 3-4 5, Marta Gutierrez 2-8 4-6 9, Emani Washington 0-2 3-4 3, Delora Pricop 6-12 0-0 12, Yanni Huggins 0-1 0-0 0, Netala Dixon 3-14 4-6 10, Team 18-50 22-28 59.

Three Rivers – 23   19   10   30 – 82

VU (3-5) – 9   15   20   15 – 59

Three-point goals: VU 1 (Gutierrez). Rebounds: VU 28 (Pricop 10). Assists: VU 10 (Dixon 6). Steals: VU 15 (Thomas 8). Blocked Shots: VU 4 (Pricop 3). Turnovers: VU 27. Personal Fouls: VU 23. Fouled out: None.