-- Story provided by Trine University Athletics --
LEXINGTON, Ky. – The Trine University women's basketball team came up short on Friday evening in the NCAA III Women's Basketball Tournament Sectional Semifinals 66-49 to New York University (NYU). The Thunder end the 2022-23 season with a 23-7 record after having made it to at least the second weekend of the NCAA Tournament for the second straight year. NYU moves on to the Sectional Finals where they will meet the winner of the Transylvania University versus Ohio Northern University contest.
"New York is really good, they're well coached and have a lot of really good players," Head coach Andy Rang mentioned postgame. "I thought their length really bothered us tonight. We couldn't get clean looks and we didn't hit shots. When you play in a tournament like this you have to hit shots and credit to them on their defense."
Trine was held to 18-of-55 (32.7%) from the field in the loss and lost the rebounding battle 41-33. The Violets of NYU had 15 offensive rebounds in the game, including 11 extra opportunities in the first half alone. That led to 15 second chance points for the Violets compared to six for the Thunder.
The defense was on display early in the game. Senior forward Katie Sloneker scored the first points of the game and a layup by sophomore guard Sidney Wagner were the only scores for Trine in the first six minutes of game time. At the first media timeout, the Thunder trailed 8-4.
A layup followed by a three for NYU extended their lead to 13-4 at the 2:18 mark in the first quarter. After that, Trine found their footing and chipped away at the gap. A mid-range jump shot by Wagner and a three-point field goal from senior guard Sophie Sloneker made it 13-9 through the first quarter.
After a make by NYU to begin the second, the scoring run continued for the Thunder with an and-one by Wagner and another layup by Katie Sloneker. At the media timeout, Trine was within one at 15-14 and had held the Violets to 1-of-12 from the field over the course of nearly eight minutes.
Senior guard Makayla Ardis and sophomore guard Sierra Hinds etched their names in the scorebook late in the period, but the Violets remained in front 22-18 at halftime. NYU was contained to 29.4% (10-of-34) in the first half, but a difference of nine in rebounding allowed the Violets to get extra opportunities at points.
The third quarter was won by NYU 21-11 as the Violets remained in front. A stretch of over four minutes that was bookended by free throws from the senior guard Alyssa Argyle put Trine in a double-digit hole at 38-25. Argyle would add a make from beyond the arc with one minute and change remaining in the third, but NYU took a 43-29 lead into the fourth quarter.
The Thunder offense was the most effective in the fourth quarter, but unfortunately the Violets were able to counter nearly every score with points of their own. Sophomore guard Katie Tate found Hinds for three and Wagner followed that up with a shot from distance as well, but three-point plays on the other end for NYU negated the advantage.
The Violets claimed their largest lead of the game at 61-40 with less than five minutes to play and down the stretch some of the freshmen were able to find the bottom of the net. Freshman forward Abby Sanner had success drawing fouls and finished with five points, all coming in the final minutes of the game and freshman guard Addison Hutson knocked down a jump shot to get to the 66-49 final.
Wagner was the only student-athlete in double figures with 15 points. Sanner and Ardis each brought down eight rebounds and Katie Sloneker distributed a team-high three assists. The senior class of Ardis, Argyle and both Sloneker twins combined for 20 points with classmate Sam Underhill cheering them on from the bench after suffering a season-ending injury earlier this season.
"This senior class has nothing to hang their heads about," Coach Rang continued. "Unfortunately they got caught up in the covid mess. We were in the Sweet 16 when the tournament got cancelled and the next year we didn't have a national tournament. The next two years, this group has won 51 games with a Sweet 16 and a Final 4. It means everything to me how hard they've worked and the legacy they've left for our program."
