SHERMAN, Texas - The top two seeds, No. 1
Trinity University and No. 2 Southwestern University, advanced to
the 2013 Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference Women's Basketball
Tournament Championship game with semifinal victories on Saturday
afternoon. Official Tournament Website | Live Video
| Photos
SCAC Semifinal Game One Recap
The top-seeded Trinity University Tigers survived with a
hard-fought 59-53 win in the Southern Collegiate Athletic
Conference Women's Basketball Tournament Semifinal game against the
University of Dallas on Saturday afternoon. Box Score
Trinity imporved to 22-4 on the season, securing the team's 16th
consecutive victory, and winning for the fourth time this against
Dallas (12-15). The Tigers hit 4-5 free throws in the final 26
seconds to seal the win, though Dallas had a shot to go ahead in
the final minute.
The Crusaders forced a crucial turnover in the final minute, then had a three-pointer from Kylie Yoshimura drop halfway down before rattling out to keep it a 55-53 Trinity lead. Yoshimura was huge in the second half for Dallas, scoring 15 of her game-high 17 points to keeep her team in it.
Murphy Burns knocked down both ends of a one-and-one at the line with 26.4 second left to put the Tigers up 57-53, and finished with 14 points to lead the Tiger offense.
The Tigers rebounded a Dallas miss on the next possession, then Libby Kruse pulled down a game-clinching offensive rebound on the ensuing missed free throw by Trinity.
Kruse then finished off the game's scoring with a pair of free throws. She finished with eight points and a team-best nine rebounds - including three on the offensive end - as well as a team-high four assists.
Dallas opened the game with a 9-2 run to take command early, then slowed the game down to its own pace, but neither team shot well in the first period. Trinity hit just 31% (9-29) from the field, but Dallas was just 6-26 (23.1%) to start the game. The Tigers pulled ahead with five unanswered points heading into the break, taking a 23-18 lead.
Early in the second half, Trinity built the lead to 11 points (35-24) with an 8-0 run, but Dallas rallied behind four threes from Yoshimura in a span of four minutes, and the lead was back to just three (41-38) with just over 10 minutes remaining.
Dallas tied the game 43-43 with just under seven minutes to play, but the Tigers never trailed in the second half, hitting 5-7 from the field from that point on to hang on for the victory.
Anecia Richardson was Trinity’s only other player in double figures, scoring 13 points on 6-11 shooting, and pulling down four rebounds. Bryony Harris grabbed six boards for the Tigers, while Caitlin Barrett and Hannah Coley chipped in with nine points each. Coley also had four steals, while Barrett had four rebounds and three assists.
Marleyna Bustamante finished with 12 points in the loss for the Crusaders, hitting 8-8 from the foul line, while both Brooke Hagemann and Christy Allen pulled down 10 rebounds to lead all players. Yoshimura also added six assists for Dallas, playing in all 40 minutes of the game.
Trinity advances to the SCAC Championship game tomorrow at noon. It will be the first appearance in the finals for the Tigers since a 2009 loss to Oglethorpe. Trinity is seeking its first conference title since 2005, and will face either Southwestern University or host Austin College on Sunday afternoon.
Murphy Burns (TU) interview | Cameron Hill (TU) interview | Jina Johansen (UD) interview
SCAC Semifinal Game Two Recap
The second-seeded Southwestern University Pirates found themselves
trailing third-seeded Austin College at halftime, but a big second
half highlighted by a late 16-0 run gave them a 72-57 victory in
the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference Women’s
Basketball semifinals on Saturday afternoon in Hughey Gym.
Box Score
In what would become a theme throughout the game, the Pirates used a swarming full court press to hound Austin College into nine turnovers in the first eight minutes as they raced out to a 14-4 lead early on, but the hot shooting of Erin Riley and Christina Kime brought the Kangaroos back and put them ahead 15-14 with seven minutes left in the opening half.
Chelsea Leeder knocked down a pair of threes as Southwestern took a 31-29 lead with just over a minute left before the break, but a Brianna Harvey layup and a three from Riley just before the buzzer sent Austin College into the half leading 34-31. Austin College hit 57.9% from the field in the first half, including hitting 4-of-6 from deep.
Leeder took control early in the second half, drilling three
triples and scoring 11 points in the first five minutes out of the
locker room to give the Pirates a 46-37 lead, and the margin grew
to 50-37 with 13:22 remaining.
Austin College battled back with a 10-0 run that included threes
from Kime and Shayna Clardy, but after a pair of Brittany Stepanski
free throws made it 50-47 it was once again Leeder who took over
for the Pirates, scoring eight of her team’s next 10 points
to spark the big 16-0 run that put the game away.
Leeder knocked down 10-of-15 field goals and 6-of-8 threes and finished with 29 points to lead all scorers. She also had six rebounds, five assists, and three steals. Jordan Owens was the only other Pirate to reach double-digits, scoring 10 points and pulling down seven boards.
Kime led the 'Roos with 19 points and hit 4-of-7 threes and added five assists and Riley finished the game with 15 points and six rebounds. After the hot shooting by the ‘Roos in the first half, Austin College hit just 26.9% from the field. Southwestern also forced Austin College into 27 turnovers in the game.
The Pirates advance to tomorrow’s SCAC Championship game, where they will face off against the top seeded Trinity University Tigers. Trinity and Southwestern have met three times this season, with the Tigers winning by 12 in each of the three meetings.
Chelsea Leeder (SU) interview | Kerri Brinkoeter (SU) interview | Michelle Filander (AC) interview
