NASHVILLE - The Trevecca Nazarene University women's basketball (1-1) saw their 16-game home winning streak broken to Drury University (2-0), 64-59, in the final game of the 2023 Jack "Pops" Duncan Classic (PDC) at Trojan Fieldhouse on Saturday. It was a battle of two teams who reached the semifinal round of the 2023 NCAA Midwest Region tournament hosted by Ashland University last March.
2023 Pops Duncan Classic Home Page
Trevecca had won 16 in a row at Trojan Fieldhouse. They won all 14 last season at home and the streak started with their last game of the 2021-22 season. Drury is 7-0 vs. the Trojans and have won all five meetings in the Pops Duncan Classic. Trevecca is 17-15 all-time in the PDC.
BREAKING IT DOWN
Drury opened a 4-2 advantaged, but the Trojans went on a 9-2 run to take a 11-6 lead with 1:15 to go in the quarter. Trevecca led, 11-8, through the first quarter.
The Panthers asserted themselves to start the second with an opening three that tied the game then took 15-13 lead on a Beth Matas Martin jumper at the 8:05 mark. DU got a little separation with a 5-0 run that put them up 22-17 with 2:50 left in the half. TNU tied the game at 24-24 with 1:34 left in the half on a Kor Fornesa Liu layup. The Panthers closed the half on a 6-2 run for a 30-26 lead at the half.
Trevecca made it a two-point game (30-28) with a pair of
Lili Wilken free throws to open the second half, but Drury began to add to their lead slowly over the third quarter. It was a 19-11 run that built the visitors lead to 10 (49-39) with 9:24 left in the fourth quarter. Andjela Dremenovic mad the different with 10 points in the game-changing run.
Trevecca made couple of more runs at Drury, who were 31-2 last season. The first was an 8-2 run that pulled the Trojans within five (55-50) with 4:56 left.
Keeley Carter scored four and the Trojans made work at the line going 6-6 from the charity stripe. The Trojans did cut it to four, 63-59, with :11 on the clock, but could get no closer.
KEY PLAYERS
Keeley Carter scored a game-high 24, hitting 10-12 from the line and grabbed eight rebounds.
Konnor Gambrell had a double-double with 15 points and 14 rebounds. She had five steals.
Lili Wilken also hit for ten and added three rebounds, two assists and a block.
TEAM TIME
Trevecca held Drury to just 64 points, a team that averaged over 81 points per game last season and scored 78 the day before against Kentucky Wesleyan. But, the Trojans offense struggled hitting just 29% (18-62) from the field, 12.5% (2-16) from deep, and 75% (21-28) from the line. TNU won the rebounding (40-35), turnover (13-19), and steals (10-6) categories.
UP NEXT
Next, Trevecca plays three consecutive games against future Gulf South Conference foes. Not only are they GSC members, but two of the three are predicted to finish 1-2 in the league. TNU visits the University of Alabama Huntsville on Wednesday (Nov. 15) at 6:00 PM. The Chargers are picked to finish eighth this year. TNU finishes the week at Lee University on Saturday (Nov. 18) when they visit the Flames at 1:00 PM. Lee is picked second after tying with Union for the regular season title last year. They advanced to the GSC Championship game, falling the Union. But they advanced to the NCAA South Region where they advanced to the semifinals.
The next home game at Trojan Fieldhouse brings Union University to the Music City. The Bulldogs, picked to win the league, won the GSC Championship last year and advanced to the NCAA South Region semifinals. Both Lee and Union are former conference foes of the Trojans in the old TranSouth Athletic Conference.
MORE ABOUT THE TREVECCA TROJANS
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