Women's Hoops Drops OT Heartbreaker to Trinity

SHERMAN, Texas - The Austin College women's basketball team forced overtime on a last second basket by Raylee McDonald, but visiting Trinity University held off the 'Roos in the extra period in an 87-83 contest on Saturday evening in Hughey Gym. The 'Roos are now 7-7 overall and 3-3 in Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference play.

Trinity got out to a quick start, taking a 9-3 lead with Josie Napoli scoring the first seven points for the Tigers, but a basket by Kaylee Smith and a three from Lexi Martin got the 'Roos to within one at 9-8 with 6:39 to play in the opening quarter. The 'Roos would square things up at 13 apiece midway through the quarter, and close strong by taking a 21-18 lead after one. Austin College knocked down 4-of-7 from long range in a second quarter that saw the 'Roos outscore Trinity 20-13, heading into halftime with a 41-31 lead after Maya Dodson buried a three with under a minute on the clock.

The 'Roos extended the lead to 45-33 on a basket by Brooklyn Matthews, but the Tigers came storming back thanks to a 15-0 run that put them ahead 48-45 with 4:35 remaining in the period. Grace Moothart tied things up on a three and Emma Potts scored to give the lead back to Austin College at 50-48 with 2:02 on the clock, but a small 6-2 run by Trinity gave the Tigers a 54-52 advantage heading into the fourth. The teams went back and forth throughout the fourth quarter before Trinity pulled ahead 67-61 with two and a half minutes left in regulation, but Austin College battled back and evened things up at 67 all with just over a minute remaining on a driving finish by Avory Miller. Trinity's Kylie Minter knocked down a pair of free throws in the closing seconds to make it 69-67, but Austin College forced overtime at the buzzer on McDonald's basket off of a baseline inbounds play with 0.8 seconds on the clock.

Austin College took a 76-75 lead on a three from Martin with just over two minutes to play in the extra frame, and after the Tigers grabbed the lead back with a three from Napoli, McDonald hit a pair of free throws to make it 78-78 with a minute and a half on the clock. Minter put the Tigers back on top and Bailey Timmons buried a three to make it an 83-79 lead for the Tigers with 17 seconds remaining before Moothart answered with a trey to cut it to 83-82 five seconds later. However, the 'Roos were unable to reclaim the lead and Napoli, who scored 11 points in overtime, knocked down four free throws in the closing seconds to seal things for Trinity.

Trinity used a huge advantage at the free throw line to top the 'Roos, as the Tigers made 29-of-35 from the stripe while Austin College was just 7-of-15. Martin hit 6-of-10 from long range to score 21 points while adding seven assists, and Moothart was 5-of-8 from three and finished with 17. Miller added 10 points, and McDonald came off the bench to score 10 and added four rebounds. Matthews had seven points, six boards, and four assists in the loss, while Napoli led all scorers with 27 points and added seven assists.