Posted: Feb 29, 2020
KERRVILLE, Texas -- Top-seeded Trinity University jumped out to a 20-6 first quarter lead and never looked back to take an 87-54 victory over fifth-seeded Texas Lutheran University in Saturday evening's first semifinal at the 2020 SCAC Women's Basketball Championship. Official Tournament Website | Post-game Interview w/Trinity
12th-ranked Trinity advances to its record eighth-consecutive SCAC women's tournament final and 13th overall. The Tigers are 6-6 in their previous 12 championship game apperances.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- Trinity played its normal up-tempo game and the full court pressure resulted in 24 TLU turnovers which the Tigers converted into 32 points. Conversely, Trinity committed just six turnovers and TLU was not able to turn any of those into points.
- Trinity held TLU to 23.1 percent (6-26) from the field in the first half in racing out to a 38-15 lead. The Bulldogs missed all eight of their three-point field goal attempts.
- Any thoughts of a comeback were extinguished in the third when Trinity blistered the nets to the tune of 65.0 percent from the field (13-20) and extended its lead to 65-36 heading into the final stanza.
- Eight different Trinity players played 19+ minutes with 12 players entering the scoring column and five hitting for double figures. Trinity's bench out-scored Texas Lutheran's 36-24.
TRINITY STATISTICAL STANDOUTS
- Abby Holland: 14 points, six rebounds, four steals, two assists
- Kelly Simmons: 13 points, seven rebounds, two steals, two assists
- Ashlyn Milton: 12 points, four assists, three rebounds
- Hailey Coleman: 12 points, three rebounds, four steals
TEXAS LUTHERAN STATISTICAL STANDOUTS
- Kasey Hairell: 12 points, 10 rebounds
- Morgan Rodriguez: 11 points, 10 rebounds
- Cami Davis: 11 points, four rebounds
- Tara Molina: 2 points, eight assists, four rebounds
NOTABLES
- Saturday's game was a rematch of last year's title game where TLU defeated Trinity, 68-62. The last four conference championships have been won by either Trinity (2016, 2017 and 2018) or Texas Lutheran (2019).
- Trinity is seeking its seventh SCAC women's basketball tournament title. The Tiger program is currently tied with DePauw for the most women's tournament titles with six.
- With her 14 points, Abby Holland has 128 career points in the SCAC tournament and is just eight points from cracking the all-time tournament scorers' top five list. Christina Byler of Hendrix (2008-2011) is currently fifth and had 136 points in seven career tournament games.
- Trinity's 33-point win is its largest margin of victory in a SCAC tournament game since defeating Rhodes, 85-51, in the quarterfinal round of the 2011 championships.
- Texas Lutheran ends its season with a 12-15 record.
UP NEXT
Trinity (23-3) will play the winner of Saturday's second women's semifinal between Austin College and Southwestern tomorrow at 2 p.m. CT for the conference tournament crown. Trinity swept both of its potential title game opponents during the regular season.
Trinity (23-3) will play the winner of Saturday's second women's semifinal between Austin College and Southwestern tomorrow at 2 p.m. CT for the conference tournament crown. Trinity swept both of its potential title game opponents during the regular season.