Lady Blazers end season at 21-11 after falling to No. 12 Wabash Valley

MATTOON, Ill. – The Vincennes University Lady Trailblazers season likely came to an end Thursday night when VU faced off against No. 12-ranked Wabash Valley College in the Region 24/Midwest District Championship at Lake Land College in Mattoon and falling 102-52.

The Lady Warriors first broke away midway through the opening quarter when Wabash Valley used a 10-0 scoring run to take a 24-9 lead.

VU would finish the first 10 minutes of play trailing the Warriors 28-12 before the WVC lead continued to grow in the second quarter with a 12-0 scoring run.

Vincennes would attempt to cut into the Wabash Valley margin before halftime, but only managed to be within 25 points at the break. The Lady Warriors held a 51-26 lead going into the locker room.

Wabash Valley would continue to grow their lead throughout the remainder of the game, answering any VU basket with two of their own.

The Lady Warriors would hold a 78-40 lead heading into the fourth quarter and finish out the game with a 102-52 margin.

The Lady Blazers were led offensively by sophomore Daylynn Thornton (Lafayette, Ind.) who finished with 12 points, four rebounds and a team-high two steals.

Freshman Elikya Baseyila (Paris, France) was the only other VU scorer in double-figures, scoring 11 points and grabbing a team-high eight rebounds and blocking three shots.

Sophomore Cherrelle Newsom (Indianapolis, Ind.) looked to get the scoring going early with a pair of first quarter three's and finished the night with nine points and three assists.

Freshman Maycee Lange (Vincennes, Ind.) ended with eight points, six rebounds and two steals, while sophomore Kennadi Harris (Columbus, Ohio) came off the bench to add six points, two rebounds and two assists.

Freshman Ra'Mya Milton (Brownsburg, Ind.) continued to play some of her best basketball this season in the tournament, coming off the bench to match Baseyila's team-high eight rebounds, while also scoring four points and dishing out two assists.

Freshman Katrina Litte (Valmiera, Latvia) came off the bench to lead the Blazers with three assists.

The loss Thursday night likely ends the Lady Blazers season with a final record of 21-11 and marks the end of the VU careers of the five Lady Blazer sophomores Kennadi Harris, Cherrelle Newsom, Daylynn Thornton, Elena Tzelou and Chanice Willis.

Cherrelle Newsom ends her VU career with 820 points and set a new VU school record for three-point makes in a career with the new mark set at 198. Newsom's 114 three-point makes this season puts her second all-time in VU history for threes in a season, just behind Rachel Dixon who hit 127 three's in 2004.

Chanice Willis closes out her VU career with 113 total steals after swiping 82 steals in the 2022-23 season.

Daylynn Thornton ends her time at VU averaging 9.5 points, 3.0 rebounds and 2.4 assists per game.

Cherrelle Newsom and Elikya Baseyila were also named to the 2023 All-Region 24 team following Thursday night's game.

VINCENNES BOX SCORE

VU (52): Cherrelle Newsom 3-12 0-0 9, Daylynn Thornton 4-7 3-4 12, Brie Miller 1-3 0-0 2, Elikya Baseyila 5-7 1-4 11, Maycee Lange 3-6 0-0 8, Kennadi Harris 2-8 2-2 6, Chanice Willis 0-1 0-0 0, Katrina Litte 0-4 0-0 0, Ra'Mya Milton 2-4 0-0 4, Team 20-52 6-10 52.

VU (21-11, 14-5) – 12   14   14   12 – 52

Wabash Valley – 28   23   27   24 – 102

Three-point goals: VU 6 (Newsom 3, Lange 2, Thornton). Rebounds: VU 38 (Baseyila 8, Milton 8). Assists: VU 13 (Newsom 3, Litte 3). Steals: VU 6 (Thornton 2, Miller 2, Lange 2). Blocked Shots: VU 6 (Baseyila 3). Turnovers: VU 37. Personal Fouls: VU 19. Fouled out: Lange.