Lady Blazers start season with statement road win at Moberly Area

MOBERLY, Mo. – The Vincennes University Lady Trailblazers begin their 2023-24 campaign with four tough games away from the Physical Education Complex, including this weekend's Moberly Area Community College Orscheln Classic.

The Blazers faced off against host Moberly Area Community College on the first day of the two-day classic and in the first of two meetings with the Lady Greyhounds in VU's first four games this season.

VU got off to a quick start over the host Lady Greyhounds, jumping out to an early 6-1 lead after a pair of three's by freshman Giavonnie Belton (Indianapolis, Ind.).

Moberly Area would answer back on their home floor however, scoring six unanswered to take the lead at 7-6.

The remainder of the first quarter was a back-and-forth battle, with the two teams trading baskets before Vincennes would grab the lead back late in the first and end the first 10 minutes of play with a 19-17 advantage.

Moberly Area would grab the lead back in the early part of the second quarter as the two teams again traded the lead back-and-forth a total of nine times during the second period of play.

The Lady Greyhounds would get the final strike of the first half, scoring the final five points of the quarter to head into the halftime break with a 43-40 lead over Vincennes.

VU looked to come out of the locker room strong in the third quarter and used a 10-0 scoring run in the third quarter to take a 50-45 lead over Moberly.

The Lady Blazers would increase this lead to 62-53 before the Lady Greyhounds scored the final basket of the quarter to cut the Vincennes lead back down to six at 62-56.

Moberly would continue to eat away at the Vincennes lead into the fourth quarter, getting within three of the Lady Trailblazers before VU looked to pull away with an impressive 16-4 scoring run to take their largest lead of the night at 79-63.

The Lady Greyhounds were not going to go away quietly though, playing the fouling game and looking to trade two points for three to help cut into the Vincennes lead, Moberly Area slowly began to chip away at the deficit.

Moberly would get back within six at 84-78 but were unable to completely erase the deficit as Vincennes came away with the big season opener road victory 86-80 over Moberly Area.

Vincennes was led offensively by a big night from behind the arc by freshman Giavonnie Belton, who came away with seven three-point makes in her VU debut, along with hitting eight of nine from the free throw line for an outstanding 29 points on the night.

Freshman Makyla Tucker (Indianapolis, Ind.) was the only other VU scorer in double-figures Friday night, coming off the bench to score 19 points and dish out a team-high seven assists in her debut in the Blue and Gold.

Sophomore Johnai Wimbleduff (Indianapolis, Ind.) would add nine points and three rebounds off the bench, while sophomore Maycee Lange (Vincennes, Ind.) ended her night with eight points, four rebounds and three assists.

Sophomore Brie Miller (Bainbridge, Ind.) had a big night around the basket, picking up nine tough rebounds and scoring seven points.

Sophomore Elikya Baseyila (Paris, France) would set the team-high in rebounds Friday night, coming away with 11 big boards, while freshman Taylor Guess (Indianapolis, Ind.) finished with 10 rebounds and six points.

The Lady Trailblazers will face another tough test tomorrow, Saturday, Nov. 4 when VU takes on Mineral Area College to close out the weekend. Tip-off time for this game is set for 2 p.m. eastern.

VINCENNES BOX SCORE

VINCENNES (86): Giavonnie Belton 7-11 8-9 29, Katrina Litte 0-1 3-4 3, Brie Miller 1-3 5-6 7, Elikya Baseyila 1-8 0-2 2, Maycee Lange 3-6 1-2 8, Karina Scott 1-6 0-0 2, Makyla Tucker 4-12 8-13 19, Najra Voloder 0-1 1-2 1, Taylor Guess 2-4 2-3 6, Johnai Wimbleduff 2-8 4-7 9, Team 21-60 32-48 86.

VU (1-0) – 19   21   22   24 – 86

Moberly Area – 17   26   13   24 – 80

Three-point goals: VU 12 (Belton 7, Tucker 3, Lange, Wimbleduff). Rebounds: VU 46 (Baseyila 11). Assists: VU 16 (Tucker 7). Steals: VU 9 (Belton 4). Blocked Shots: VU 7 (Baseyila 3, Voloder 3).  Turnovers: VU 40. Personal Fouls: VU 33. Fouled out: Scott, Guess. Technical Fouls: Belton (4-2:35).