Lady Blazers strike big in Sophomore Night win over Olney Central College

VINCENNES, Ind. – The Vincennes University Lady Trailblazers closed out their final home game of the 2023-24 regular season Saturday night, pulling away early and cruising to a 90-61 win over the Lady Blue Knights.

VU Hall of Fame Head Coach Harry Meeks adjusted the starting lineup specifically for sophomore night, electing to start all five Lady Trailblazer sophomores, Katrina Litte (Valmiera, Latvia), Brie Miller (Bainbridge, Ind.), Maycee Lange (Vincennes, Ind.), Najra Voloder (Konjic, Bosnia) and Elikya Baseyila (Paris, France).

Early on Saturday night, these five struggled to score, with the Lady Blue Knights striking first and scoring the first eight points of the game.

Vincennes would respond back however, battling all the way back with the help of a 17-2 scoring run to take a 17-10 lead.

The Lady Blazers would not surrender this lead for the rest of the game as VU closed out the first quarter holding a 19-16 advantage.

VU continued to add on to their lead in the second quarter with a 12-0 scoring run and outscored Olney Central 27-12 in the second quarter to lead 46-28 at the halftime break.

Vincennes helped put the game away early in the second half with an 8-0 run early in the third quarter, followed by an 11-0 run later in the period to lead 69-44 heading into the fourth quarter.

Olney Central looked to make a late comeback in the fourth but were unable to battle back as VU ultimately put the game away late with a 12-0 scoring run as Vincennes cruised down the stretch to pick up the 90-61 victory over the Lady Blue Knights.

The Lady Trailblazers were led by another double-double by sophomore Elikya Baseyila, who finished with 13 points and 11 rebounds.

Saturday marks Elikya's 10th double-double of the season, 22nd of her VU career and Baseyila officially moves into third place all-time in VU Lady Trailblazer history with 531 career rebounds.

Reigning NJCAA Division I Player of the Week freshman Destinee Hooks (Indianapolis, Ind.) had another strong game off the bench for the Lady Blazers, finishing with a game-high 20 points, seven assists and six rebounds.

Sophomore Katrina Litte got the scoring going early, connecting on a pair of first half threes on her way to 15 points and five assists on the night.

Freshmen Makyla Tucker (Indianapolis, Ind.) and Karina Scott (Noblesville, Ind.) round out the VU double-figure scorers with Tucker adding 11 points and Scott finishing with 10 points and three assists off the bench.

Sophomore Brie Miller continues to lead by example with her tough, physical play, leading the Lady Blazers with five steals to go along with eight points, six rebounds and four assists.

The Lady Trailblazers will look to keep this hot streak going into next week when the Blazers hit the road Wednesday, Feb. 28 to face off against Lincoln Trail College in Robinson, Ill. Tip-off time for the Lady Blazers is set for 6 p.m. eastern.

VU defeated the Lady Statesmen earlier this season 100-68 in the P.E. Complex, getting a big boost from 18 points and six assists from Destinee Hooks and a 14-point, 15-rebound double-double by Brie Miller.

VINCENNES BOX SCORE

VINCENNES (90): Brie Miller 4-6 0-0 8, Maycee Lange 1-8 0-0 2, Najra Voloder 1-2 0-0 2, Elikya Baseyila 4-7 5-7 13, Katrina Litte 6-11 1-2 15, Giavonnie Belton 3-11 1-2 9, Makyla Tucker 4-5 1-2 11, Destinee Hooks 7-14 4-5 20, Karina Scott 3-9 1-2 10, Team 33-73 13-20 90.

Olney Central – 16   12   16   17 – 61

VU (16-9, 11-1) – 19   27   23   21 – 90

Three-point goals: VU 11 (Scott 3, Litte 2, Belton 2, Tucker 2, Hooks 2). Rebounds: VU 44 (Baseyila 11). Assists: VU 24 (Hooks 7). Steals: VU 16 (Miller 5). Blocked Shots: VU 5 (Voloder 2). Turnovers: VU 20. Personal Fouls: VU 27. Fouled out: Lange.