The Trinity women’s basketball team finished off their SCAC conference weekend with two wins over University of Dallas and Colorado College.
Despite having to overcome rough travel conditions and inclement weather, the Tigers battled through their game to win over Dallas with a score of 85-69.
The Tigers shot better than 50 percent from the field in the second half, erasing a narrow 41-40 deficit at halftime. Dallas led at the break, despite being out-rebounded 25-17, and out-shot (45 percent to 37 percent) in the opening period.
“Our goal for the rest of the season is to continue to prepare for each game, one game at a time, and continue to improve,” said head women’s basketball coach Cameron Hill.
Trinity hit just under 50 percent of their shots in the game overall (despite making just 3-15 three-point attempts), as well as knocking down 26-34 (76.5 percent) from the foul line. Dallas was held to 31.4 percent shooting overall by the Tiger defense.
Sophomore forward Anecia Richardson led all players with 26 points for the Tigers, sinking 8-10 from the field and 10-12 from the free-throw line. She also tied for the team lead with eight rebounds, and added a game-best four blocked shots.
Junior guard Hannah Coley hit 7-11 from the field for 18 points, while senior guard Murphy Burns finished with 14 points and eight boards after a late surge. Senior forward Libby Kruse added nine points to go with a game-high six assists and seven rebounds.
“Our expectation is that we will be the best team in the conference, and while we realize that we have a target on our back, that is right where we want to be,” Coley said.
Trinity (14-4, 6-1 SCAC) moved to first place in SCAC standings after their game against Colorado College. The Tigers never trailed in the game, jumping out to a commanding 40-24 lead at halftime. Colorado College dropped to 1-17 overall, and 1-6 in SCAC play.
“There is always pressure whether it is staying at number one spot or getting to the number one spot. I don’t think it adds any more pressure than we already have on ourselves to defend the SCAC title,” Richardson said.
Burns led Saturday’s game with 17 points, shooting 7-12 from the field for the Tigers. She also pulled down six rebounds, dished out five assists and recorded three steals for a solid all-around game.
For her career, Burns is now tied for second place in scoring at Trinity, drawing even with Krista Prato-Matthews (2005-09). Burns has amassed 1,423 career points in her career, which is still nearly 400 away from the all-time record set by Trinity Hall of Famer Terri Hailey from 1977-81.
Coley and Richardson each contributed 16 points in the matchup. Richardson shot 7-10 from the field, and also led the team with four steals. Coley knocked down 6-13 from the field and scored the only two three-pointers of the night for Trinity.
Kruse brought in nine rebounds, and is now in fourth place on Trinity’s career rebounding list with a total of 699 in her career.
“I think we look at each remaining game on our schedule and see it as an opportunity to remain at the top of our conference. The only pressure our team feels is in each individual game,” said assistant women’s basketball coach Stephen Bourne. “The pressure is to play at our highest level regardless of our opponent. We like to look at these games as opportunities to keep the situation in our hands and not let anyone besides ourselves control how we end up doing in conference.”
Trinity returns home this weekend for its final regular season home games, facing off against Colorado College and the University of Dallas. Dallas comes to San Antonio for an 8:00 p.m. game on Friday night, while Colorado will play Trinity on Saturday evening at 6:00 p.m.
