Story courtesy of Trinity Sports Information
Tyler, Texas - The 22nd-ranked Trinity women’s basketball team lost its NCAA First Round Playoff game 63-57 against Claremont-Mudd-Scripps (CA) Colleges on Friday.
The Tigers led 44-38 early in the fourth quarter, but the Athenas rallied to tie it 48-48 with 5:20 remaining. Claremont pulled ahead in the final minutes, scoring four unanswered points to make it a 58-53 advantage. After a pair of free throws from Allison Staley to cut the lead to just three with just under a minute left, Claremont hit a huge three-pointer with 12 seconds to play to seal the victory.
"There was no doubt it was a good effort," said Head Coach Cameron Hill after the Tiger loss. "It's difficult when you are in this position to talk about the game. It was a great game, and we played hard. They made plays, we made plays. It's just difficult when you have a team that's this special -- and you care about as much as you do - for it to end like that. You want to make the team that beat you earn it. I feel like we did that. Shots didn't fall. They had a good game plan, and I thought we had a good game plan. They made plays down the stretch, and we had a tough time. That's the ball game, right there. You can look at the stats differential on all categories, and I am not going to buy that it had anything to do with the last couple of possessions. It was just a really hard-fought game by two great teams, and we came up short."
Four Tiger players scored in double figures, led by Elizabeth Balido’s 11-points performance. Balido was perfect at the free-throw line, going 6-6, while pulling in five rebounds. Monica Holguin contributed 10 points, on 4-8 shooting from the floor, and led the team with three assists. Caitlin Barrett and Mollie Hughes also scored 10 points each for the Tigers. Allison Staley posted a team-high six rebounds, and Bryony Harris had five boards, along with executing four steals.
Trinity completed the campaign with a 22-6 record. The Tigers returned to the NCAA Postseason for the first time since 2013, and for the second occasion under Head Coach Cameron Hill. It marked the eighth overall Postseason Tournament for the Tigers since 1995. Claremont-Mudd-Scripps stands at 23-5 and will take on the winner of host University of Texas-Tyler and the University of California-Santa Cruz in Saturday’s second round.
The Tigers struggled to shoot the ball through most of the game, finishing just 4-20 from three-point range, and 33.3% overall from the field. Claremont also held a significant edge in rebounding (48-32) - including a 19-8 advantage on the offensive glass. Trinity's defense was tough, though, holding Claremont under 36% shooting for the game.
