NE Indiana News

Free Throws and Defense Key to Women's Basketball Victory over Otterbein

The Trine University women's basketball team wrapped up the Cameron Hospital Classic with a 66-54 win over Otterbein University on Saturday afternoon. The Thunder were led by senior forward Sam Underhill, who had her second straight double-double at 16 points and a career-best 14 rebounds. She was also 10-for-10 from the charity stripe. Trine is now 3-1 overall this season and the Cardinals of Otterbein are an even .500 at 2-2.

The first three shots of the day for the Thunder all fell. Underhill scored the team's first basket, while Katie Tate and Alyssa Argyle chipped in as well. Makayla Ardis and Katie Sloneker got on the board before halfway in the first and in total, the team shot 64.3% from the field in the 22-point opening quarter. Abby Sanner had three points off the bench in the first and Argyle led the team with seven first quarter points.

Trine took a 22-13 lead into the second quarter, but the offense would come to a sputtering halt. Otterbein had four points to start the period and outscored the Thunder 12-8 at the halftime break. The Cardinals cut their deficit to as little as three, but a steal and score by Sidney Wagner in the closing seconds put Trine on top 30-25.

Coming out of the locker room, the Thunder continued to struggle from the field and didn't get a point until a Sierra Hinds layup four minutes in. Luckily, the staple piece of Trine women's basketball is their defense, and even during times of turmoil on offense, the team was still able to dig their heels in and prevent their opponents from getting in front.

The sophomore Hinds had this to say post-game regarding the effort on the defensive end of the floor, "Defense is our biggest thing, we spend the first half on defense, boxing out, knowing personnel – so defense is always a big priority of ours."

After a 1-for-8 start from beyond the arc, Ardis and Hinds connected on three straight attempts from long range to extend the lead and punctuate an 18-8 third quarter. Otterbein only made two field goals in the quarter as the Thunder extended their lead to 15 at 48-33.

An early foul discrepancy allowed Trine to go to the free throw line early and often in the fourth quarter and the Thunder were able to convert their free opportunities. In the game, Trine was 30-for-32 (93.8%) from the free throw line and were a perfect 18-for-18 in the fourth quarter alone. In fact, all 18 points for the home team in the quarter came from the free throw line.

The largest lead of the game came at the 4:43 mark in the fourth when Underhill connected for a pair of shots from the free throw line. That led to a timeout, which was effective in leading Otterbein to dig deep one last time to make a push, but the hole was too large for them to overcome with such little time remaining and the fact the Thunder took advantage of every attempt at the free throw line helped them to ice the game at 66-54.

Underhill (16 points) along with Hinds (13 points) and Ardis (11 points) were double figure scorers for Trine. The senior Underhill's 14 boards were split evenly amongst the offensive and defensive ends.

Coming back from the Thanksgiving break, the Thunder take the floor once again on Saturday, November 26. Trine women's basketball will play host to Ohio Northern University beginning at 3 p.m.

Original source can be found here.