(Story Courtesy of Trinity University Sports Information Department)
Amherst, Mass. – The 10th-ranked Trinity Tiger women's basketball team had its stellar season come to an end in a 79-68 defeat in the NCAA Quarterfinals at the hands of eighth-ranked Amherst College on Saturday night.
Trinity had its 27-game winning streak snapped and finished the year 28-3, while Amherst improved to 25-3 with the win, and will move on to the NCAA Division III Final Four next weekend in Pittsburgh, Pa. This was just the second NCAA Quarterfinals appearance in school history for the Tigers.
The Tigers were paced by a trio of players in double figures, led by senior Hailey Coleman and her 17 points on 7-of-11 shooting. Junior Maggie Shipley added 16 points to go with four rebounds, three assists, and three steals. Senior Kelly Simmons contributed 14 points and a team-leading six boards off the bench.
The Rundown
The game began slowly as both teams tried to establish their own pace. Trinity broke a 4-4 tie with five straight points from Coleman, including a three-pointer with just over seven minutes left in the period. She scored nine of the first 11 points of the game for the Tigers, though Amherst battled back to tie things up 11-11 with just over two minutes left. Trinity scored seven of the final nine points of the opening quarter to take an 18-13 lead.
Shipley and Coleman opened up the second quarter with a pair of buckets for the Tigers, giving the visitors a nine-point advantage early. Amherst started hitting its three-point shots in the second quarter to keep the game in reach, including a 6-2 run that made it a 28-24 Tiger lead with 6:28 left in the half.
Both teams traded baskets over the next several possessions until Trinity got back-to-back field goals to push the lead back to eight points with under two remaining. Amherst then scored five quick points in the final 43 seconds – including a buzzer-beating layup to make it a 36-33 game at the break.
That momentum carried over into the second half as Amherst opened the third quarter with six unanswered points to take a 39-36 lead. The Tigers were quick to respond after that, scoring its first basket of the quarter and immediately forcing a turnover to get the ball back. Trinity scored again to reclaim the lead 40-39 just over a minute after falling behind for the first time since the opening seconds of the game.
The game was a back-and-forth affair for the next several minutes and the teams were knotted up at 50-50 with 3:27 left in the third. Amherst finished the quarter with a flurry of three-pointers fueling another 11-0 run that put the Tigers behind by double figures with under a minute left in the period. Trinity got the last shot of the quarter to break up the run, but still trailed 52-61 heading into the fourth.
The Mammoths stayed hot offensively into the fourth and the extended run ended up being an 18-2 spurt that just about iced the game. Down 16 points with just over seven minutes left in the game, the Tigers rattled off six unanswered points to drop the lead down to 10 on a couple of occasions near the midpoint of the period. Amherst responded with five points in less than a minute to make it a 15-point game as the clock approached four minutes to play. Trinity missed its next five shots after that and Amherst chewed up the clock to keep the Tigers from any hope of a final rally. The Tigers did hit a pair of late three-pointers but Amherst had already sealed the win by then.
Numbers to Note
Ashlyn Milton scored nine points to go with five rebounds and three assists, hitting 4-of-9 from the field. Milton added one more three-pointer to her record-breaking total this season, finishing with 78 total three-pointers made.
Julia Ackerman hit a pair of three-pointers for six total points. She finished with 175 career three-pointers made, which is good for third in school history.
In addition to Coleman, Simmons, and Ackerman, seniors Britney Goodwin and Carly Leong also wrapped up their collegiate careers tonight.
