(Story Courtesy of Trinity Sports Information Department)
SAN ANTONIO, Texas -- No. 4/5 Trinity University Women's Basketball doubled-up University of Texas-Dallas in the second quarter, weathered a third-quarter comeback to win the opening round of the 2023 NCAA III Women's Basketball Championship Friday night to finish the first day of the San Antonio Regional.
The Tigers (27-1) collected five double-digit scorers in the affair with the American Southwest Conference Champion comets (19-10) led by senior Maggie Shipley with 18 points. Junior Maggie Robbins came within a point of her senior teammate while pulling in nine steals, eight rebounds and five assists: all team-highs.
Trinity led by as many as 21 points in the contest as it hit the mark prior to intermission, 45-24, after senior Claire Hale became the first in double-figures with all of her 10 points for the contest in just over 10 minutes on the floor in the opening half.
The Tigers found success in the transition game Friday night, outscoring the Comets, 26-7, via turnovers which helped to overcome a slow shooting night from beyond the arc (five-of-22).
Shipley's second free throw just over 12 minutes into the contest marked the senior's 1,000th career point at the college level. By night's end, Shipley's 18 points pushed her total to 804 points in a Trinity uniform since the start of the 2020-21 campaign.
Robbins' nine steals marked her fourth career game with nine or more steals, her third of the 2022-23 season. The junior moves into fourth all-time at Trinity with 220 career steals, seven shy of Caitlin Barrett '16 for third in the program's record book.
No. 4/5 Trinity University Women's Basketball returns to Calgaard Gym Saturday night for the third matchup of the season with No. 14/12 Hardin-Simmons University, which also earned a 17-point victory over Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Champion University of Redlands, 77-60.
The Rundown
Trinity trailed early out of the gate as the Comets aimed to quiet an impressive Calgaard Gym crowd. Blythe Williams logged what would be the visitors' largest lead of the night, 5-2, three minutes in as she capitalized on one of just 11 combined offensive rebounds for the contest.
The Tigers began their first breakaway attempt with deep strikes from Hale and sophomore A'Nika Saenz to finish a 13-4 response to the early deficit. UT-Dallas had an answer as Williams and Diane Hurst each worked up to five points for the quarter and a 15-15 deadlock with 61 seconds in the first.
Trinity began its statement in the final minute with six straight points from senior Addie Putnam between a successful and-one and a true three-pointer. Putnam's finish to the first began what would become a 21-3 run that lasted through nearly the first six minutes of the second frame.
On the other side of the quarter break, five players found the bottom of the net in the run led by five points from Robbins. By the end of the run, 36-18 Tigers, Shipley had already accounted for four of her five assists on the night to tie Robbins while Putnam, Hale and Robbins were all within a bucket of double-digits.
The 21-point lead, 45-24, came from the free throw line at the hands of senior Emily Nelson. Hale marked the first 20-point margin the previous possession as the first into double-figures, with Robbins marking the second and final largest lead, 47-26, as the second prior to the half.
At intermission, Robbins had already accumulated six of her nine steals. Trinity forced the Comets into 15 first-half turnovers—nine in the second quarter—as the Tigers doubled-up UT-Dallas, 26-13, in the second frame.
The midway visit to the locker room came as a rejuvenation for the Comets as they returned fire for a 22-10 third-quarter rally on the Tigers. Trystan Clark and Jordan Maxwell combined for 11 in the third stanza, pinning Trinity's offense to just three-of-11 from the field and forcing seven turnovers in the process. The quarter ended on the lone points for the night from Lauren Fulenwider, a three-pointer to mark just a 57-50 deficit with 10 minutes to go.
Single-digit margins remained through the first five-plus minutes of the final period. Cierra Trigg worked up to her 15 points to set the table for a Hurst fastbreak bucket for the final single-digit margin, 67-58, with 4:47 remaining.
Finishing in the paint and cashing in from the charity stripe led to Trinity's final breakaway en route to the 79-62 final. Shipley found three buckets inside over the final three-plus minutes while Putnam and Milton each reached double-figures in the final two minutes.
Coach Speak
"This one was heavier than normal," Head Coach Cameron Hill began, "and I think I speak for everybody that there was a huge elephant in the gym all week long knowing we had to play two people that mean the world to our program."
"Joe [Shotland] and Jackie [Layng] have done such a remarkable job with that program," Hill continued on his former Assistant Coach and player, respectively. "To compete with them and look down the sideline and see two other Trinity alumni coaching in the same game in the NCAA tournament in his first year there, just not enough words to congratulate them on the job they've done."
"For us, this is an exciting opportunity and we're very fortunate to be moving on."
Up Next
No. 4/5 Trinity Women's Basketball hosts No. 14/12 Hardin-Simmons Saturday night for an 8:00 p.m. tip.
All four hosts in the upper-right portion of the 2023 NCAA III Women's Basketball Championship bracket earned a victory in Friday's action, completed by the Tigers' victory over UT-Dallas. Trinity will be the final game decided in Saturday's competition amongst the upper-right portion with the following contests deciding next weekend's sectional pod:
- Skidmore College (NY) at No. 18/21 Tufts University (MA), 5:30pm
- RV/No. 24 Wartburg College (IA) at No. 6/7 Hope College (MI), 6:30pm
- No. 20/RV Elizabethtown College (PA) at No. 1/1 Christopher Newport University (VA), 7:00 pm
