Story courtesy of Trinity University Sports Information
RICHARDSON, Texas - The seventh-ranked Trinity University women's basketball team opened up the NCAA Playoffs with an 82-74 victory over Hendrix (AR) College on Friday.
Trinity started off strong in the first quarter, connecting on better than 50% of its shots against the Warriors. The Tiger defense also held Hendrix under 40% shooting in the quarter.
The Tigers used a 7-0 run to take a 14-10 lead midway through the opening period, then scored the final seven points of the quarter to jump out to a 25-16 advantage after one.
The onslaught continued in the second quarter, as Trinity took that lead to 19 points (41-22) with 5:27 left until halftime. Hendrix finished the quarter strong, though, and cut the lead down to 49-38 at intermission. Both teams shot 60% or better in the quarter.
The Warriors carried that momentum into the second half, running off 12 straight points to take a 54-53 lead over the Tigers with just over four minutes left in the quarter. It was the first lead for Hendrix since the opening minutes of the game.
Trinity immediately reclaimed control with five unanswered points, and the Tigers never trailed again. After the third quarter buzzer sounded, the Tigers were up 61-58.
The first 2:15 of the final quarter saw Trinity push that lead to nine (67-58), and Hendrix would get no closer than four points the rest of the way. Up 67-63, the Tigers sealed the game by scoring 12 of the next 14 points - making it a 79-65 lead with less than two minutes remaining.
Trinity notched its first NCAA Playoff victory since 2005, improving its season record to 27-1. Hendrix fell to 18-11 on the year.
Micah Weaver tied the team season-high with 31 points in the game, marking just the second 30-point game in Trinity's playoff history. Tara Rohde's 33 points against Randolph-Macon in 2005 was the only other such game.
Monica Holguin scored 15 points to go with six assists and five boards, and is now just nine points from reaching 1,000 in her career. Holguin would be the 16th player in Trinity women's basketball history to reach the milestone.
Additionally, Holguin's six assists puts her at 200 for her career, which makes her the 15th player in school history to reach that number.
Allison Staley poured in 12 points on 3-5 shooting, hitting a pair of three-pointers to make her just the third player in school history to score 50 or more three-pointers in two different seasons.
Grace Horn dished out a game-high seven assists for the second straight game, as well as picking up four steals for the Tigers. Horn is now tied for eighth in Trinity single season history with 108 assists.
Trinity returns to action tomorrow night at 7:00 p.m., and will face off against the winner of UT-Dallas and Claremont-Mudd-Scripps (CA) College in the second round of the NCAA Playoffs.
