NASHVILLE – The Trevecca Nazarene University women's basketball team (3-3, 1-0 G-MAC) opened Great Midwest Athletic Conference play with a 77-68 win over the University of Findlay (4-2, 0-1 G-MAC) on Tuesday night in Trojan Fieldhouse.
Trevecca has won the last three meetings with Findlay, and four of the last six, despite trailing 7-5 versus the Oilers all-time.
BREAKING IT DOWN
Trevecca won the opening tip-off but that was just about all in the first minute and a half of action. The Oilers got off to a hot 8-0 start, making their first four shots, causing head coach
Karen Booker to call a timeout with 7:53 to play. Outside of the timeout, the Trojans responded with 17 straight points and never looked back. Trevecca built its nine-point advantage much in part to a six-minute scoring drought by the Oilers. Led by Lili Wilkin's seven points, Trevecca enjoyed a 20-13 advantage after the first quarter.
Both teams settled into their offense as the second quarter began where the flow turned into a distance shooting contest. Both sides made a 3-pointer to open the scoring in the quarter, where collectively a total of eight 3-pointers were made. After a long ball was made by Lili Wilkin at the 7:21 mark, the Trojans opened up their largest advantage of the half at 33-19. The Oilers hit a layup at the buzzer to keep it a seven-point game headed into the halftime break where the Trojans held a 45-38 lead. Both teams scored 25 points in the second quarter.
The third quarter saw the Oilers trim the Trojan lead to five points on two occasions after the visitors connected on back-to-back free-throws. Lili Wilkin and Keeley Carter combined for a quick 8-0 run, though, to push Trevecca's lead back to 13 at 55-42 with 7:48 to play. Wilkin's 3-pointer during that stretch was her sixth of the night which is just one short of the NCAA school record set by Haley Felker during the 2014-15 campaign.
Trevecca's lead set at 62-53 heading into the fourth. The Trojans' lead was never threatened in the final frame as every Findlay push was answered. Keeley Carter finished off her 21-point night with five fourth quarter points as the Trojans pulled away for a nine-point victory.
KEY PLAYERS
The Trojans were led by a pair of 21-point efforts by Keeley Carter and Lili Wilkin. Carter finished with seven rebounds and two assists while Wilkin complimented her night with five assists, four rebounds and a block.
TEAM TIME
Trevecca shot just under 50% from the field for the game (29-59) and commanded an 11-rebound margin (39-28) over Findlay. Both sides attempted 20 3-pointers, with the Trojans hitting 11 (55%) while the Oilers only made five (25%).
UP NEXT
The Trojans hit the road for a pair of games in league play. First, at Ursuline College (6-0, 1-0 Great Midwest) on Thursday, December 7 (5:30 PM) and then at Lake Erie College (1-1, 0-0 Great Midwest) on Saturday, December 9 (1:00 PM).
The Ursuline Arrows have won the last two meetings, evening the all-time series at 10-10. Trevecca won 10 of the previous 11 meetings.
Trevecca leads the Lake Erie series 7-2, but the Storm beat the Trojans in the last meeting, 67-64. LEC won the first meeting in the series, meaning Trevecca claimed the next seven.
