The Colorado College women's basketball team made a valiant comeback in Sunday's Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference championship game, but a 15-point third-quarter deficit proved too large to overcome and Trinity University held on for a 73-63 victory.
 
Co-SCAC Newcomer of the Year Audrey Bayston scored 12 of her game-high 25 points during a 14-3 run that saw CC cut a 49-34 deficit to four points with 24 seconds remaining in the third quarter.
 
Talia Cloud's three-pointer with 8:01 remaining pulled Colorado College to within 56-53, only to see TU stretch its cushion back to eight points with 1:33 to go.
 
A jumper by Tedy Reed and Bayston's fourth triple of the game cut the deficit to 67-63, but CC was forced to foul on the ensuing possessions and Trinity went 6-for-6 at the free-thrown line during the final 44 seconds to deny CC its first conference championship.  
 
"I'm incredibly proud of our team's fight against a very talented Trinity squad," head coach Katherine Menendez said. "As did so many other teams in the country this year, our group persevered through so much and stayed together at every turn."  
 
Bayston was 8-for-10 from the floor, including 4-for-5 from behind the arc. She also grabbed six rebounds and recorded a pair of assists.
 
Anna Fanelli scored 11 points and dished out seven assists for Colorado College. With her second assist, Fanelli became the 11th player in program history to record 200 or more.
 
Bayston and Fanelli both were named to the all-tournament team.
 
"Audrey gave us incredible energy with her offensive effort in the second half," Menendez said. "She shot the ball with confidence and attacked the rim extremely well, and her intensity sparked a great run for our team."
 
"Anna led the charge through Trinity's press and her defensive rebounds helped our transition game a great deal. She was aggressive with the ball as both a scoring a passing threat, and her assists came at some crucial times."
 
Senior guard McKenzee Gertz scored 11 points and grabbed eight rebounds, and climbed past Betsy Schilling (1977-81) into sixth place on the career list 735 rebounds. She also finished her career ranked eighth in school history with 1,361 points.
 
"As McKenzee and Abby (Walz) head toward graduation, I hope that they find great pride in where they have taken this team during their time as Tigers," Menendez said. "Without question, they have impacted the trajectory of our program for the better and their contributions will be felt for years to come."
 
After falling behind 4-1 early in the first quarter, Trinity turned CC's jitters into 13 consecutive points and a 14-4 lead. The Colorado College deficit swelled to 13 just before halftime, but CC was within nine early the third quarter before an 8-2 surge gave TU its largest lead at 49-34.
 
Jordan Rudd scored 13 of her team-high 22 points during the first half. She also grabbed six rebounds.
     
       
Colorado College Standouts
Rosie Braley scored eight points and pulled down six rebounds.
Talia Cloud recorded five points and five rebounds.

Trinity Standouts
Ashlyn Milton scored 19 points.
Hailey Coleman finished with 10 points and a team-high eight rebounds.
 
Notes
Colorado College finished the season with a 7-3 record.
Trinity finished the year with an 8-2 mark, its only losses coming against CC.