WHITING, Ind. — Last night the Trojans traveled to Indiana for their penultimate conference game of the season against the Crimson Wave at Calumet College of St. Joseph. Neck and neck throughout the majority of the game, Trinity began to pull away in the third quarter and their momentum carried them to victory through the fourth quarter, defeating the Crimson Wave 59-54.

Off to a slow start, the Tojans grabbed their opening bucket after two minutes as freshman Kayla Keaskowski grabbed her first collegiate jumper to jumpstart a short run to take the lead 7-4. With three minutes remaining, the Crimson Wave tied things up before retaking a lead that was quickly snuffed out by TIU with a jumper from Breleigh Gula. Freshman point guard Twanasia Graves stepped up and sank her second 3-pointer of the frame to give the Trojans a small lead. At the quarter's end, the score equalized at 15-15 following a free throw from Audree Peck.

After trading buckets to begin the second quarter, the score knotted up once again at 22-22, equalized by an-and-one free throw from the hands of Peck. Junior captain Kaiya Albert, on her way to her first career double-double, dropped another trey for the Trojans to edge ahead again but back to back buckets from the Crimson Wave gave them the go-ahead point with two and a half minutes remaining. Keaskowski recorded her second jumper which was matched by Calumet to give the home team a one point advantage into the halftime break.

Gula opened the third frame with a 3-pointer, immediately followed by another from  Graves to take the lead 35-30. The Crimson Wave pushed and pulled throughout the third, trying to retake the lead but the Trojan's momentum was building as they held the lead throughout the quarter by as large as six points at two separate junctures. Entering the final quarter, the Trojans led by three points.

After four minutes, the Crimson Wave caught TIU and took a single point lead that held briefly until Graves once more answered the call with a jump shot to regain the lead that would hold through the final buzzer. In the waning minutes of the quarter, Albert and Gula recorded another four points each while Hattie Black notched three from beyond the arc.

Throughout the game, Trinity outscored the Calumet bench by a margin of 18-2 and converted more second chance points, 20-11.

Veteran Breleigh Gula led the Trojan attack with a season-high 15 points and three assists, while Kaiya Albert gave a career best performance with her first double-double. The junior transfer garnered 13 points and grabbed 10 rebounds.

A steady presence beneath the net, Audree Peck collected 15 rebounds and 12 rebounds to assemble her fourth double-double of the season. Freshman Twanasia Graves also had a career best night with 12 points and nine rebounds as she recorded 38 of 40 minutes on the court.

The Trojans (4-22) return home Saturday afternoon for their final outing of the 2022-23 campaign as they honor three of their graduating seniors: Hattie Black, Breleigh Gula, and Amber Reynolds. The Fighting Saints from Holy Cross College will visit Van Dixhorn Arena on February 18 for a 1:00pm tip-off.     

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TIU Trojans     TIU Women's Basketball

 

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Trinity International University is a comprehensive, national university affiliated with the Evangelical Free Church of America and located in Bannockburn, Illinois, 25 miles north of Chicago. TIU educates men and women to engage in God's redemptive work in the world by cultivating academic excellence, Christian faithfulness, and lifelong learning.