Trinity Barnes' hot third quarter along with effective play from the Trojans 6-footers enabled the Triton College women's basketball team to finish their pre-holidays part of the schedule with a 79-61 victory over Lake Michigan College Saturday, December 16, at the Jordnt Athletic Complex.
The Trojans (9-6) recovered from a disappointing close loss to Sauk Valley three days earlier with a 10-0 spurt to end the second quarter and an 11-2 run midway through the third quarter. A series of forced turnovers got Triton going while an under-the-weather Barnes amassed 14 of the Trojans' 23 points in the third.
"The way we finished the second quarter, we finally got going defensively," said Illinois Basketball Coaches Association Hall of Fame assistant coach
Tim McKinney helping fill-in for head coach
Drew Winston who was away for a family matter. "We ended the second quarter strong which gave us some momentum and we were able to push the lead."
The Trojans, who led 37-29 at halftime, were able to increase their margin to 20 points later in the third quarter before fending off a couple of nascent comeback attempts by the Red Hawks. Energetic guard Eleah Hedstrom, who led all scorers with 30 points, kept the Trojans working throughout the fourth quarter.
Triton simply out-manned the Red Hawks. Playing without 6-foot-2 center Arial Ford, their leading scorer at 21 points per game, Lake Michigan essentially used just six players. Hedstrom, Madison Flowers and Jillian McKean each played all but 14 seconds. Meanwhile, five Triton non-starters logged at least eight minutes.
Star guard Barnes, who played just 10 minutes in the first half, "felt a little better" after intermission. Her actual play was far ahead of her overall physical feeling. Barnes racked up 10 points in a 90-second span midway through the third. Her consecutive three-pointers gave Triton a 48-31 lead that made a Lake Michigan comeback a daunting prospect. Barnes finished with a team-high 23 points and five assists in almost 24 minutes.
"Trinity is a competitor," McKinney said. "Obviously she was all-Region and JUCO Top 40 last season for a reason. She creates a lot of things for us. Despite having no voice, she was able to give it a go and found enough energy. Twenty-three (points) is a testament to her doing whatever she can to help our team win."
Jordyn Coleman and
Lauryn Hunt, Triton's "bigs," totaled 20 rebounds and 21 points with no Red Hawks answer for their size. Triton held a 55-38 rebounding advantage.
Meanwhile, the Trojans' defense clamped down on the tiring visitors late in the second quarter with a series of steals that were converted to quick points. Overall, the Red Hawks committed 26 turnovers compared to the Trojans' 17.
Aliana Brown contributed with 12 points, while
Mariah Robinson was a factor off the bench in the first half with seven points.
Mya Thillet had five points in fill-in time.
"We would have loved to run the table this week," McKinney said of wins over Wright College and Lake Michigan sandwiching the loss at Sauk Valley. "But 9-6 was not where we wanted to be at."
"Hopefully the break will help us (with nagging injuries). We'll have two weeks off. I still think we're in a good spot in the region and simply just cannot beat ourselves the second half of the season."
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(Story by tritonathletics.com contributor George Castle)
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