Women's Basketball 2/27/2021 12:00:00 AM

Trevecca Women's Basketball | Trevecca Routs Ohio Valley on Senior Day, Qualifies for Great Midwest Championships

Box Score

NASHVILLE - The Trevecca Nazarene University women's basketball team (6-5, 6-5 Great Midwest) got back on track Saturday afternoon and closed out the regular season with a solid 89-68 Senior Day victory over the Ohio Valley University Fighting Scots (0-20, 0-20) at Trojan Fieldhouse. The win came less than 24 hours after Trevecca dropped a heartbreaking 91-88 decision to Ursuline on Friday night.

The win cemented Trevecca's Great Midwest Tournament bid and celebrated the final home game of Abbi Buck, Olivia Pepperman, and Haley Vesey's Trevecca career.

SERIES HISTORY/NOTES

With the win, Trevecca now leads the all-time series with Ohio Valley, 13-1, and has won eight in a row.

HOW IT HAPPENED

Trevecca - which has won three of its last four games - jumped out to an 8-2 lead in the first 3:30 of the game before Ohio Valley would score seven straight points and lead for the only time in the game, coming at 9-8 after a pair of free throws by Nahia Urturi-Ortiz with 5:34 to go in the first quarter. Trevecca retook the lead at 10-9 on a Faith Wilken layup with 4:50 showing on the clock and the Trojans never trailed again. The Trojans put together a 13-2 run to open up a 21-11 advantage before holding a 23-15 lead after the opening 10 minutes.

Trevecca scored eight straight points in the opening 2:05 of the second quarter to widen its lead to 31-15 with 7:55 to go before halftime. The Trojans then went almost three minutes without scoring, but still led Ohio Valley, 33-21, after a Keeley Carter layup midway through the period. Trevecca then hit another scoring drought, going another three minutes without putting any points on the board, but again the Trojans were able to maintain a comfortable lead until Wilken's layup with 1:52 remaining made it 35-26 Trevecca. The lead stayed between eight and 11 points for the rest of the quarter before the Trojans took a 39-30 lead into the locker room at halftime.

The Fighting Scots hung around in the third quarter but were unable to get any closer than eight points, coming at 52-44 after a 3-pointer by Jemma Bennett with 4:28 remaining in the period. While Trevecca was unable to land a knockout blow, the Trojans continued to slowly extend their lead over the rest of the quarter, building a 67-51 advantage by the end of the period.

The Trojans cruised in the fourth quarter, as Ohio Valley never got closer than 12 points and Trevecca continued to either maintain its advantage or slowly build its lead. Trevecca's biggest lead was 24 points, coming at 89-65 after an Alex McFarlin 3-pointer with 14 seconds to go.

PLAYER STATS REPORT

Ten different players scored for Trevecca in the win, led by Faith Wilken's career-high double-double of 24 points and 11 rebounds. Carter had a double-double of her own with 20 points and 10 rebounds, and Samantha Whiteman chipped in 10 and three rebounds off the bench for the Trojans.

In their final game at Trojan Fieldhouse, Abbi Buck pulled down one rebound, Haley Vesey scored four points, four rebounds, and one assist and Olivia Pepperman scored 14 points on 7-of-14 shooting with three rebounds, four steals, and one assist. With the Great Midwest Tournament still to be played, Pepperman will look to add to her career tally of 889 points and 392 rebounds, both top five in school history in the NCAA era. Pepperman also holds the school record for field goals made in a single game (13) and is top five in school history in field goals made, steals, blocks, and free throw attempts.

Nahia Urturi-Ortiz led Ohio Valley with 23 points and seven rebounds. Jemma Bennett had a career-high 21 points (including going 4-for-8 from 3-point range) and six rebounds and Jordan Fox had 11 and eight rebounds for the Fighting Scots.

TEAM STATS BREAKDOWN

Trevecca finished the game 34-for-80 overall (42.5 percent) but went only 5-for-22 (22.7 percent) from three-point range, so the Trojans made 29 of their 58 shots (50 percent) from inside the arc. Trevecca did make 16 of its 19 free throws (84.2 percent) and dominated on the boards, winning the rebounding battle, 48-31, as five different Trojans grabbed at least four rebounds. The Trojans also grabbed 10 steals (to Ohio Valley's five), blocked five shots (to the Fighting Scots' one), and forced Ohio Valley into 17 turnovers (compared to 10 for Trevecca).

Meanwhile, Ohio Valley went 24-for-59 (40.7 percent) overall, made 6 of its 20 3-point shots (30 percent), and drained 14-of-16 (87.5 percent) at the free-throw line.

WHAT'S NEXT

With the 2020-2021 regular season in the books, Trevecca will begin Great Midwest tournament play on March 2.

Be sure to check www.tnutrojans.com for updates on the time and location of the Trojans' quarterfinal round matchup.

MORE ABOUT THE TREVECCA TROJANS

Visit Official Home of Trevecca Athletics at www.tnutrojans.com

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