MATTOON, Ill. – The VU Lady Trailblazers began their postseason run Sunday night and advanced to the Midwest District Semi-Finals Tuesday night after defeating Kaskaskia College 79-75.
Vincennes got off to a slow start offensively against the Blue Angels, quickly falling behind by 11 points early in the first quarter.
The Lady Blazers would battle back and cut the deficit to five points at the end of the first period, trailing 22-17.
VU grabbed the lead early in the second quarter at 23-22, but this would definitely not be the last time the lead changed hands.
The lead flipped back-and-forth for the rest of the first half, with Vincennes holding a narrow two point lead heading into the break. Leading 41-39.
Neither team was able to control the momentum of the game in the third quarter either, with the largest lead for either team being two points throughout the quarter.
The final Midwest District Quarterfinal game of the day was tied at 61-61 heading into the final quarter of play.
VU took the momentum in the fourth quarter, grabbing a two possession lead four time in the final period of play.
Vincennes took the lead back with just under four and a half minutes to play and held on to the advantage at the free throw line as the Lady Blazers closed out a 79-75 win over Kaskaskia to advance to Tuesday's District Semi-Finals.
"We were a little bit up and down tonight," VU Hall of Fame Head Coach Harry Meeks said. "Our defense was a little spotty. We could have been better defensively. We had a couple of kids tonight that just didn't play up to par. At the end of the game, I told my Assistant Clyde Buck, 'we need to get this lead up to four points and make it a two possession game,' and we did and fortunately for us, Kaskaskia didn't score again."
"I think Kaskaskia got a little rattled and rushed a few shots and we took advantage of that," Meeks added. "They are a good basketball team. Kaskaskia has gotten better as the season has gone along and they have some good athletes on that team. They are going to be something to deal with next year."
VU was led offensively by freshman DayLynn Thornton (Lafayette, Ind.) who came on strong in the second half, ending her night with 18 points, three rebounds and a pair of assists.
Sophomore Laila Grant (Derwood, Md.) finished the night with 16 points, while putting together a complete, all-around game with six rebounds and a team-high five assists.
Freshman Cherrelle Newsom (Indianapolis, Ind.) hit a pair of three's in the first half on her way to a 14-point night.
Freshman Trinitee Harris (Elkhart, Ind.) came off the bench to score in double figures, ending with 13 points and four rebounds.
Sophomore Nina Blade (Milwaukee, Wis.) came off the bench helped control the boards, ending her night with six points, a team-high eight rebounds and a pair of steals.
"My gameplan for every game is to get as many scorers into double digits as we can," Meeks said. "Most of the games we've won this season we've had four or five scorers in double figures. DayLynn, I thought, didn't play her best basketball in the first half. We had a heart-to-heart in the second half and she really brought it after that. She did a good job for us tonight. When we were pushing to catch up and go ahead, she was a big factor in that."
"She also did a good job at the free throw line," Meeks added. "Which was another big factor for us tonight. Down the stretch we hit a bunch of free throws that were really helped us."
The VU Lady Trailblazers advance to the Midwest District Semi-Finals where they will face Rend Lake College Tuesday, March 1 at 8 p.m. eastern at Lake Land College in Mattoon, Ill.
In the other District Quarterfinal games, top-seed Wabash Valley defeated Southwestern Illinois 112-43. John A. Logan won 72-54 over Shawnee and Rend Lake defeated Lincoln Trail 81-48.
"We have to do a better job offensively and defensively Tuesday," Meeks said. "Rend Lake is a really good team. Coach Brown really has them coached up. They play really loose and he's done a really good job with them."
"We're going to have to play as a team Tuesday," Meeks added. "We are going to have to do better than we did tonight because they are a formidable foe."
VINCENNES BOX SCORE
VINCENNES (79): DayLynn Thornton 6-13 5-6 18, Cherrelle Newsom 5-9 2-2 14, Elena Aznar 1-3 0-0 2, Macy Michels 0-2 0-0 0, Laila Grant 6-13 3-4 16, Trinitee Harris 6-10 1-2 13, Chanice Willis 2-4 2-2 6, Nina Blade 3-7 0-0 6, Candela Lascorz 1-2 0-0 2, Kylee Shelton 1-6 0-0 2, Team 31-69 13-16 79.
Kaskaskia – 22 17 22 14 – 75
VU (20-8, 13-3) – 17 24 20 18 – 79
Three-point goals: VU 4 (Newsom 2, Thornton, Grant). Rebounds: VU 32 (Blade 8). Assists: VU 18 (Grant 5). Steals: VU 7 (Blade 2). Blocked Shots: VU 2 (Aznar, Lascorz). Turnovers: VU 16. Personal Fouls: VU 15. Fouled out: None.