(Story Courtesy of Trinity University Sports Information Department)
ABILENE, Texas – Trinity's 10th-ranked women's basketball team earned a 52-39 win over No. 4 Whitman College (WA) in the Second Round of the NCAA Playoffs on Saturday night.
The Tigers won their 26th consecutive game to extend the program record and improve to 27-2 this season. Trinity reaches the Third Round for the first time since 2017 and for just the third time since the 2005 NCAA Playoffs.
Maggie Shipley led the team with 20 points and a career-high 11 rebounds, posting her fourth double-double of the season. Shipley also reached 20 points for the sixth time this season, converting a career-high 12 free throws among her 15 attempts (tied her career-high in attempts).
The third quarter proved to be the turning point as the Tigers outscored Whitman 20-5 in that period to take control of the game. Trinity advances to the NCAA Third Round with the win and will face Christopher Newport University (VA). Details will be announced next week.
The Rundown
The game was a defensive struggle from the start and neither team reached double figures in the first quarter of play. Trinity scored the first points of the game on a three-pointer from Ashlyn Milton a little over a minute into the game. Whitman answered with their first basket seconds later, then took the lead with the next bucket that came nearly two minutes later.
It took more than five minutes for the Tigers to score again after the Milton three and Carly Leong put Trinity in front with a little more than three minutes left in the quarter. That started a streak of six unanswered points that put the Tigers up 9-4 with 66 seconds to go. Whitman ended a scoring drought of nearly seven minutes with just seconds left in the period to make it a 9-6 game after one.
Whitman scored the first points of the second quarter, but Trinity answered with five straight points to go up 14-8 after less than two minutes of game time. The Tigers didn't score again for nearly four minutes, while Whitman rattled off nine unanswered points during that time to take a 17-14 lead with just 4:44 left in the half. Seconds later, Julia Ackerman nailed a three-pointer to tie the game 17-17. The two teams combined for just one more point each over the final four-and-a-half minutes and the game was tied 18-18 at intermission.
The Tigers made their move in the third quarter as the offense sprung to life. Trinity opened the period with a 12-0 run over three-plus minutes to take a 12-point lead and force Whitman to call timeout. The Blues got on the board shortly after the stoppage, but didn't score again for nearly four minutes. Trinity cooled off a little as well and the lead was still 11 points after Whitman scored its second bucket of the period with 2:01 remaining. The Tigers got the final four points of the quarter, though, taking a 38-23 advantage into the final 10 minutes of play.
The two teams traded scores in the first minute of the final quarter, then Whitman went on an 8-0 run to cut it to a 40-33 Trinity lead with 6:19 to play. Hailey Coleman got an offensive board on the next possession and Ackerman capitalized with a clutch three-pointer that put Trinity back in front by 10. The Blues missed their next two shots and Coleman pushed the lead back to 12 with a jumper with 4:26 left in the game.
Whitman missed its next two shots and took more than a minute to score again to draw within 10 at 45-35, but the Blues missed twice on the next possession and then put the Tigers on the line with 2:16 to play. Shipley hit 3-of-4 free throws over the next several seconds and took the lead back 13 before Whitman scored again with just 90 seconds remaining. Milton and Shipley hit all four of their foul shots down the stretch to help ice the game.
Numbers to Note
Shipley scored 16 of her 20 points in the second half of the game, leading the way as the Tigers pulled away in the second half. She also added three assists in the game.
Coleman finished just shy of a double-double, scoring nine points to go with nine rebounds.
Milton was the only other Trinity player in double figures with 11 points. She added five boards and three steals.
Maggie Robbins also had three steals to tie for the team lead, adding two assists and five rebounds.
Kelly Simmons tied her two teammates with three steals, adding six rebounds to lead the Tiger reserves.
Up Next
The Tigers will face off against Christopher Newport in the NCAA Third Round at a site to be announced early next week. The winner will meet the winner of Tufts University (MA) and Amherst College (MA).
