ALBION, Mich. – If Trine University is one of the best women's basketball teams in the Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association, then Albion College isn't far off.
Katy Steers produced nine of her 13 points in the fourth quarter as the Thunder, picked to finish second in the league's coaches poll released before the season, repelled Albion, 62-49.
"We played a good game against them," Albion Head Coach Doreen Carden said. "We had them right where we wanted, but just didn't find a way to finish in the fourth quarter.
"A lot of it was unforced turnovers giving them easy baskets to start the fourth quarter," she added. "We didn't make shots to get into our press defense to slow them down at all."
Emily Bernas' layup on Albion's first possession of the fourth cut the Trine lead to 42-39. The margin was just four when Emily Zgoda knocked down a 3-point basket with five minutes to play.
The Britons misfired twice from 3-point range – a shot from the corner by Olivia Savage appeared to be halfway through before bouncing out – and that allowed Trine to pull away in the final two minutes.
Albion guard Oreyana Curry, who came into the game as the MIAA's leading scorer, was held to a season-low 10 points. Evelyn Wischmeyer added 10 points, her second game of the season in double figures.
Hayley Martin stuffed the box score with 25 points, six rebounds and five blocks for Trine. Cassidy Williams added 10 points.
Albion (5-2 overall and 1-1 against MIAA rivals) will play another league game Wednesday at Olivet College.
"If we can hang with Trine we can do good things in the league this year," Carden said. "It's not fun to lose, but a positive for us is how hard we played and we had a chance to win. We'll try to get back with another win Wednesday."