ANGOLA, IN - The Trine University women's basketball team advanced to its sixth-straight Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association Tournament championship game after defeating Albion College, 70-54, in the semifinals at the MTI Center in Angola, Ind.

Trine had two players score in double figures led by junior Kelsy Taylor with 14 points on five-of-12 shooting (41.7 percent) and also had a team-high eight rebounds. Junior Tara Bieniewicz was the other Thunder player in double digits with 12 points to go along with a game-high six assists.

Albion (8-6) started the game off with back-to-back three-pointers, but Trine (14-2) answered with six straight points of its own to even the game at 6-6. The Britons then scored five points to move back ahead and later maintained a five-point advantage, 18-13, at the 2:31 mark of the first quarter. Junior Rachel Stewart then connected on a jumper that started an 8-0 scoring run for Trine to end the period and resulted in a three-point advantage for the Thunder after the first 10 minutes, 21-18.

The Trine scoring run continued into the second frame as a layup by Taylor, followed by a triple by junior Kayla Wildman started the scoring and put the Thunder ahead by eight points, 26-18. Albion answered by outscoring Trine, 9-2, during the next 3:43 to pull to within a point, 28-27, with a little over five minutes to go in the half. Trine didn't give up the lead, however, as a jumper by junior Kaylee Argyle and a layup by Stewart made it a five-point game, 32-27, with 3:56 to go. The Thunder later led by six points after a pair of free-throws by Stewart made it a 34-28 ball game, but Albion grabbed a little momentum with four consecutive points to end the half and narrowed the gap to two points at the break, 34-32.

Trine began to separate itself on the scoreboard in the third quarter as the period began with the Thunder going on a 10-2 run that ended in a pair of freebies by senior Shay Herbert which gave the home team a 10-point margin, 44-34, at the 5:47 mark. About a minute-and-a-half later, Trine continued to gain momentum with a 9-1 run that extended the lead to 15 points, 55-40, and was capped by a jumper by Taylor. Albion netted three points in the final 30 seconds of the quarter, but Trine still maintained a double-digit lead heading into the fourth by a score of 55-43.

After a minute-and-a-half scoring drought by both teams to start the final period, a three-pointer by Herbert got Trine on the board and started a 10-1 run that gave the Thunder their largest lead of the game of 21 points, 65-44, with 5:48 to go. Trine later equaled that margin at the 3:08 mark thanks to another layup by Taylor at just over the three-minute mark. The Britons outpaced the Thunder, 6-1, to end the contest, but the win was already secured by Trine who went on to win by the final of 70-54.

Trine will take on Hope College in the MIAA Tournament championship game on Saturday, Mar. 6 in Holland, Mich. It will mark the fourth consecutive time the two teams have faced each other in the tournament title game and the fifth in the past six seasons. The two teams will tip-off at 3 p.m. on Saturday.