The RedHawks continued their busy February schedule as they welcomed the Trinity International Trojans to the Savannah Center on Monday for game that had been postponed twice earlier due to severe winter weather. The Trojans got out of the blocks early and raced out to a quick 10-2 lead, however IUN responded in a big way with a 36-13 run to close the first half highlighted by senior guard Becca Theriault's triple with 17 seconds remaining in the half en route to a 58-36 victory, their 17th of the season.
Theriault and Nicki Monahan blistered the TIU 2-3 zone from the perimeter as they connected on 8 of 18 from long range while senior forward Megan Holland posted a double double with 12 points and 10 rebounds. Earlier in the day Holland was named A.I.I. Female Player of the Week for the fourth time this season. The RedHawks stingy defense forced 31 TIU turnovers and held the Trojans to just 13 field goals for the game on 26% shooting.
Trojans leading scorer Carissa Woodard came into the game averaging nearly 12 points per contest, however struggled with the RedHawks size on the interior and was held without a field goal on three attempts and settled for a season low 2 points.
Meanwhile Monahan torched TIU's zone from long range connecting on 5-12 from long range to lead all scorers with a game-high 21 points. RedHawks junior center Danielle Zandstra rebounded nicely from Saturday's loss at Ashford to record 8 points, 10 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 steals and 2 assists. Theriault also cracked double figures for IUN with 11 points. Monahan has been on tear of late from beyond the arc and has raised her percentage to .348 for the season and is shooting .468 (15-32) over her last six games from that distance. She leads the RedHawks with 48 treys on the season.
"We did a nice job of cooling Trinity off after a hot start and getting control of the game. This has been a difficult schedule for the team making up a lot of games due to postponements and have responded well. Nicki and Becca shot the ball really well tonight and right now the team is focused on playing their best basketball leading up to the A.I.I. Tournament," said IUN head Coach Ryan Shelton
The RedHawks (17-8) improved to 12-1 and in the process cliched the best home record in school history. Their only blemish came on Nov. 30 in a 60-45 loss to Judson. IUN is 8-2 in their last ten games and have not lost back to back, consecutive games this season. The team remains in first place in the A.I.I. Conference standings.
IUN returns to action tonight when they travel to downtown Chicago to square off with the Moody Bible Archers. Tip-off is set for 5 p.m. Central time.