Hooks shines in debut as Lady Blazers fall to No. 13 Three Rivers

VINCENNES, Ind. – The Vincennes University Lady Trailblazers hit the court Wednesday night for their first game after the Thanksgiving break and faced a tough challenge in No. 13-ranked Three Rivers College.

VU was led by freshman Destinee Hooks (Indianapolis, Ind.) who made her Vincennes debut Wednesday night after an injury kept her out of the first seven games of the season.

Hooks finished with 17 points, eight rebounds and four assists but the Lady Trailblazers ultimately fell to the Lady Raiders by the final score of 70-52.

The game got off to a very slow start for both teams offensively, with Three Rivers finally breaking through with a 12-2 scoring run to close out the first quarter and take a 12-4 lead after the first 10 minutes of play.

The Lady Raiders continued to roll into the second quarter and looked to potentially put the game away early with a 12-0 scoring run to start the second period and later take a 35-10 lead.

Vincennes would get some shots to fall from three-point range before half, outscoring Three Rivers 10-2 to cut the deficit to 37-20 at the break.

VU took their game to another level in the third quarter and looked to be making a big second half comeback, cutting the Three Rivers lead down to single digits at 44-35 and later using a 9-1 scoring run to cut the lead down to 50-46.

The Lady Raiders would get the final basket of the quarter and head into the fourth holding a 52-46 advantage over the Lady Blazers.

Three Rivers looked to take control back in the fourth, scoring the first six points of the quarter and using a 10-0 scoring run to grow the lead back to 18 at 68-50.

The Lady Raiders would hold the ball to run some clock in the final few minutes and take advantage of some timely offensive rebounds as the Lady Blazers just ran out of time and fell 70-52 to Three Rivers.

Vincennes was led offensively by Destinee Hooks who finished with a game-high 17 points, eight rebounds and four assists for the Lady Blazers.

Freshman Makyla Tucker (Indianapolis, Ind.) was the only other VU scorer in double-figures, coming off the bench Hooks, to finish with 10 points, including hitting a perfect two of two from three-point range.

Sophomore Maycee Lange (Vincennes, Ind.) finished her night with nine points and four rebounds, while freshman Taylor Guess (Indianapolis, Ind.) matched the nine points and four rebounds while also adding a pair of blocks on the game.

Sophomore Katrina Litte (Valmiera, Latvia) came away with five points to go along with a team-high five assists, two steals and three rebounds.

The Lady Trailblazers will look to bounce back this Saturday, Dec. 2 when VU hosts Moberly Area Community College into the Physical Education Complex. Tip-off time Saturday is set for 3 p.m. eastern.

This will be the third meeting this season between the Lady Blazers and the Lady Greyhounds, with Vincennes taking the first game of the season 86-80 at Moberly, before Moberly evened the score with an 84-65 win at Three Rivers College in Poplar Bluff, Mo.

VINCENNES BOX SCORE

VINCENNES (52): Taylor Guess 3-5 3-8 9, Brie Miller 0-3 0-0 0, Maycee Lange 3-10 1-2 9, Karina Scott 0-8 0-0 0, Katrina Litte 2-6 0-0 5, Destinee Hooks 7-19 1-4 17, Makyla Tucker 4-5 0-0 10, Najra Voloder 0-1 0-0 0, Johnai Wimbleduff 0-0 0-0 0, Elikya Baseyila 1-4 0-0 2, Team 20-61 5-14 52.

Three Rivers – 12   25   15   18 – 70

VU (3-5) – 4   16   26   6 – 52

Three-point goals: VU 7 (Lange 2, Hooks 2, Tucker 2, Litte). Rebounds: VU 34 (Hooks 8). Assists: VU 16 (Litte 5). Steals: VU 9 (Litte 2, Tucker 2). Blocked Shots: VU 3 (Guess 2). Turnovers: VU 24. Personal Fouls: VU 21. Fouled out: None.