Top Seeded Trinity Holds Off Dallas

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.

Trinity improved to 22-4 on the season, securing the team’s 16th consecutive victory, and winning for the fourth time this year with 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 keep her team in it. 

Murphy Burns knocked down both ends of a one-and-one at the line with 26.4 seconds left to put the Tigers up 57-53, and finished with 14 points to lead the Tiger offense. 

The Tigers rebounded a Dallas missed 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 hosting Austin College on Sunday afternoon.