The Austin College women's basketball team rallied from an 11 point deficit late in the second half but could not quite overcome visiting Trinity University on Saturday night, falling to the Tigers 65-59 in Hughey Gym. The 'Roos are now 3-4 overall and 0-2 in Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference play.
The Tigers jumped out to a big lead early behind a barrage of three pointers including two from Murphy Burns to take a 13-2 lead with 13:27 left in the opening half, and the lead grew to 14 on a basket by Taylor Hollins that made it 19-5 three minutes later. Brittany Stepanski scored three quick points and Jacqui Nickell and Shayna Clardy each hit a trey to close it to a 24-15 game, and free throws from Maddi Mendoza and Nickell cut the deficit to 32-27 as the 'Roos closed the half on a 9-3 run.
The 'Roos carried that momentum into the second half with Christina Kime knocking down a three and Erin Riley scoring to square things at 32 just over a minute out of the break, but Trinity responded with a 9-2 run to push the margin back to 41-34. A three point play by Stepanski trimmed the deficit to 44-41 with 10:59 to play, but Hannah Coley and Burns combined for 11 straight Trinity points to push the lead to 55-44 with 6:05 to play.
Clardy knocked down another three, and after a basket by Nickell and three free throws from Brianna Harvey, Clardy would score again to cut it to a 57-54 game with 1:27 left. Clardy would then convert a three point play to cut the Trinity lead to 59-57 with 45 seconds to play, but that's as close as the 'Roos would get as the Tigers went 6-for-6 from the free throw line in the final minute to hold off the Austin College comeback bid.
Clardy hit 5-of-10 shots from the field on her way to 13 points and added eight rebounds and Stepanski scored 11 points coming off the bench for the 'Roos. Nickell finished with nine points and four assists.
Burns hit 3-of-7 threes on her way to a game-high 17 points while Coley finished with 12 and Anecia Richardson recorded a double-double with 11 points and 10 boards.
Austin College heads on the road next weekend when they travel to Colorado College.
Austin College athletic teams participate as a member of the NCAA Division III and the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference.
About Austin College
Austin College is a leading national independent liberal arts college located north of Dallas in Sherman, Texas. Founded in 1849, making it the oldest institution of higher education in Texas operating under original charter and name, the college is related by covenant to the Presbyterian Church (USA). Recognized nationally for academic excellence in the areas of international education, pre-professional training, and leadership studies, Austin College is one of 40 schools profiled in Loren Pope's influential book Colleges that Change Lives.