IRVING, Texas -- Josie Napoli, Kylie Minter, and Livy Sauvageau each scored in double figures in leading Trinity University to its 13th consecutive and 18th overall SCAC Women's Basketball Tournament championship game with a narrow 65-64 win over McMurry University on Saturday afternoon at the Maher Athletic Center on the campus of host institution the University of Dallas. Official Tournament Website | Photo Gallery | Postgame Interview | Women's Tournament Stats
Trinity came out of the gates firing as the Tigers opened the game on a 20-9 run through the end of the first quarter. An Emily Holland 3-pointer cut Trinity's lead to just 25-19 at the 7:03-mark of the second quarter. After watching it's lead close to within five, the Tigers settled on a 35-25 halftime lead. Aryana Cleveland's traditional three-point play brought the Warhawks to within 37-35 midway through the third quarter. In the fourth quarter, the Tigers led by as many as eight before the Warhawks methodically narrowed the lead down to one midway through the quarter. Leading 63-58 with just 20 seconds to play, Trinity withstood a 6-2 McMurry run that ultimately provided the winning margin for the Tigers.
- Trinity shot 40.4 percent (23-of-57) from the floor compared to McMurry's 36.1 percent (22-of-61) shooting.
- The Tigers won the rebounding battle by a slim 39-35 margin. Both teams grabbed nine offensive rebounds.
- The game featured two ties and seven lead changes.
- Josie Napoli: 23 points, 7-of-14 FG's, 4-of-8 3FG's, 4 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 steals
- Livy Sauvageau: 15 points, 6-of-10 FG's, 2 rebounds, 2 steals
- Kylie Minter: 12 points, 9 rebounds, 2 assists
- Aryana Cleveland: 25 points, 7 rebounds, 10-of-12 FG's, 5-of-6 FT's, 4 assists
- Emily Holland: 13 points, 5-of-15 FG's, 2 rebounds
- Kylie Flippin: 11 points, 3 rebounds
- Trinity will play in its 13th straight SCAC championship game and the program's 18th overall on Sunday. The last time Trinity did not reach the league title game was in 2012.
- Despite dropping both regular season contests to McMurry, the Tigers knocked off the Warhawks in the teams' first-ever SCAC tournament meeting.
- With Trinity's upset of the Gold Division's top-seed in McMurry, tomorrow's championship game will for the first time feature neither of the league's top two seeds. Seeding has varied by division and non-divisional formats throughout the history of the SCAC Tournament.
- The Tigers improve to 39-12 all-time in SCAC postseason play while McMurry falls to 0-1 in SCAC tournament action.
- McMurry falls to 21-5 on the season and will await word of a possible at-large bid to the NCAA Division III Women's Basketball Championship.
Trinity (16-11) advances to take on the second-seed from the Gold Division, Texas Lutheran, in Sunday's championship game. This will be the fourth time Trinity and Texas Lutheran square off in the championship game and the first since 2019. The Bulldogs hold a 2-1 edge in championship game appearances over the Tigers.
