NASHVILLE – Trevecca Nazarene (18-7, 7-1 G-MAC) captured the inaugural Great Midwest Athletic Conference regular season championship with a 75-72 victory over Urbana University Saturday afternoon at the Trojan Fieldhouse.
With the win, Trevecca will host the conference tournament March 8-9 and will play either Ursuline or Central State on the 8th.
It was also Senior Day for
Anissa Ragland,
Lauren Wasson,
Rachel Raby and
Heather Miller playing in their last regular season home game at Trevecca.
In the first half with the score tied at 4 with 15:56 left,
Britt Bell started a 16-6 Trojan run with a three-pointer.
Anna Mitchell and Ragland each scored four points during the run which put TNU up 20-10.
The Trojans would keep their foot on the throttle and go up 22 points at halftime (42-20). Trevecca was efficient in the first half hitting 51.6% (16-of-31) from the field and converted 11 UU turnovers into 10 points. Urbana was also out-scored in the paint 24-10 and hit just 22.2% (6-of-27) of its shots.
Trevecca would go up as many as 26 points (46-20) in the second half before a massive comeback attempt by Urbana.
Trailing 61-41, the Blue Knights would go on a 17-4 run to bring the score to 65-58 with 5:31 left after a Kate Francisco three-pointer. The G-MAC's leading scorer, Ciara Geiger, had seven of her team's points during the stretch. UU was aided by five TNU turnovers as well.
After the score was brought to within six points following a Geiger three-pointer (67-61), Mitchell and
Kayla Biles would hit back-to-back jumpers to put TNU up 10 points (71-61).
The Blue Knights wouldn't give up though. DeVonyea Johnson hit her team's fifth 3-pointer of the second half to bring the score to 75-70 Trevecca with 56 seconds left.
Following a missed jumper by TNU, Johnson would be fouled on the other end and converted two free throws to pull the score to 75-72.
After the two free throws, Urbana would foul in hopes of getting the ball back. Mitchell would miss the front end of a 1-and-1 but the loose ball could not be picked up and shot and the buzzer sounded.
Urbana was much more efficient in the second half shooting 18-of-37 (48.6%) and 5-of-13 (38.5%) from three-point range. They also converted 26 Trevecca turnovers into 31 points.
Geiger and Francisco each scored a game-high 19 points. Francisco also grabbed 13 rebounds while Johnson added 15 points and a game-high four assists.
Ragland led TNU with 12 points off the bench while grabbing six rebounds. Mitchell totaled 11 points and nine rebounds while Raby and Bell each scored 10. Trevecca was 30-of-58 (51.6%) from the field, outscored Urbana 50-32 in the paint and held a 38-13 bench points advantage.
Trevecca will return to action March 2 at Notre Dame College (12-12). The Trojans defeated the Falcons 80-74 back on Jan. 5.