Austin College Women Advance to SCAC Championship

SHERMAN, Texas - For the first time in program history, the Austin College women's basketball team will play for a chance to bring home a Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference Tournament championship. The 'Roos overcame a slow start to pull away from Southwestern on Saturday, topping the Pirates 76-58 in the conference semifinals. The 'Roos are now 22-4 overall on the year.

Southwestern jumped out to an 11-0 lead in the opening quarter before threes from Ally Longaker, Natalie McCoy, and Sarah Gwin made it 13-9 with 4:09 left in the opening quarter. The 'Roos would get the margin down to 19-18 after the first, and a late three from Kacie West to end the second quarter put Austin College ahead 39-37 at halftime as the 'Roos outscored Southwestern 21-18 in the second quarter. McCoy led the comeback charge in the first half, coming off the bench to score 17 points in the first 20 minutes of action.

The 'Roos doubled up Southwestern in the third quarter 20-10, pushing the margin to 59-47, and they would cruise from there thanks to a strong defensive effort to open the fourth. The Pirates went scoreless for more than four minutes to open the final quarter as Austin College built a 64-47 lead, and the margin would remain at 12 points or more for the remainder of the game as Austin College advanced to take on top-seeded Trinity University on Sunday afternoon at 2:00 p.m.

McCoy poured in 25 points on 8-of-12 shooting, knocking down 3-of-4 threes and 6-of-7 free throws to pace the 'Roos offensively. Longaker scored 19 points, and Reagan Chiaverini chipped in 13 points and a game-high 12 rebounds.