UNIVERSITY HEIGHTS, Ohio (courtesy of @TNUsports) – The Trevecca Nazarene University women's basketball team improved to 10-7 overall and 7-1 in the conference after it defeated Ursuline College, 86-75, in a game played at John Carroll University. The win keeps the Trojans in a first-place tie in the conference.
The Trojans have now won four in a row and five of their last six. Trevecca has a 3-0 advantage in the all-time series with Ursuline. The game was played at the Tony DeCarlo Center on the John Carroll campus due to a tornado strike to the Matthew J. O'Brien Athletic Center on the Ursuline campus prior to the season starting.
Kaci Britt Bell opened the game with a three-pointer and set the tone for the first half. Trevecca led by seven (9-2) with 16:50 remaining and later a Haley Felker three-pointer gave Trevecca a 10-point lead (17-7) at the 15:16 mark.
Trevecca led by 12 on two occasions in the first half. The first instance came at the 8:11 mark when Helen Mitcher buried a three to put TNU up 27-15. The second 12-point lead was on a Paige Baugher three-pointer that put the Trojans up 37-25 with 4:43 remaining. Unfortunately that cushion came in far too handy. The Arrows, who came into the week tied for third with just two conference losses, used a 11-0 run to close the deficit to just one at 37-36 with :43 seconds on the clock.
The teams exchanged three-point baskets over the final seconds and the halftime score was Trevecca 40, Ursuline 39. Bell led Trevecca with 13 first half points
Trevecca spurted out of the halftime break with a 7-0 run that put the Trojans up 47-39 with 18:05 to go. The run was capped by a Christina Cutner three-pointer. The Arrows did one better as they answered with an 8-0 run that tied the game at 47-47 with 15:48 on the clock.
Trevecca regained a five-point (55-50) lead before the Arrows took their first lead of the game after an 8-0 run. Ursuline led 58-55 with 11:54 to go. With 8:01 remaining Ursuline led by three, 68-65, but saw the Trojans roll off a 8-0 run, pulling ahead 73-68 with 5:55 left. Curtner and Felker both connected on three-point baskets in the run.
The Arrows continued to battle, cutting the lead back to two, but the Trojans held strong and moved the lead to six (79-73) on Felker's fourth three-pointer with 2:04 to go. Trevecca sank four consecutive free throws at the end of the game to record an 86-75 win over the Arrows.
Trevecca shot 52% (31-60) from the field, 46% (12-26) from beyond the arch, and 71% (12-17) from the line. Trevecca outscored Ursuline 46-36 in the second half. TNU had a 35-26 edge in rebounding.
Curtner led five Trojan double-figure scorers with 16 points. Bell (15), Felker (14), Anna Mitchell (11), and Mitcher also reached double figures. Bell, Curtner (9), Bell (8), and Felker (7) led the rebounding effort. Curtner just missed a triple-double with nine assists. Felker added five assists while Bell contributed four. Bell also topped the steals list with three. Felker finished hitting 4-of-5 from long range.
Tajanee Wells led the Arrows with 24 while Erica Huber scored 21. As a team the Arrows shot 43% (24-55) from the field, 32% (7-22) from three-point range, and 77% (20-26) from the line.