The Trinity women’s basketball team fell to Texas Lutheran University 54-52 in early March at the SCAC Championships conference final. Junior Lauren Splawn was named to the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference winter All-Sportsmanship Team. Sophomore Anecia Richardson was named to the D3hoops.com All-South Region Second Team, her second straight year making the All-Region Team. Last season, Richardson was voted South Region Rookie of the Year.
Trinity had a four-point lead going into the last minute of the game, but Texas Lutheran came back to tie it at 50-50. The Tigers retook the lead with a pair of free throws from Splawn. Trinity had a turnover in the last 30 seconds, giving the ball back to the Bulldogs who missed the three-pointer, but then scored on an offensive rebound to tie the game at 52-52. Trinity was called on traveling, turning the ball over to Texas Lutheran who scored to win the game in the last three seconds.
“I feel like we did everything we could to give ourselves a chance to win that game,” said head coach Cameron Hill. “It was hard on our whole team because everyone put their heart into it.”
Two Tiger players, Richardson and junior Hannah Coley, had double figures in the game. Richardson had a double-double with 22 points and 13 rebounds while Coley had 13 points and eight rebounds.
“We had a really good season, even though we didn’t have the ending we wanted. TLU definitely won’t beat us again,” said sophomore Bryony Harris.
In Saturday’s semifinal, Trinity beat University of Dallas 60-54. Coley led the Tigers with 14 points, four assists and three steals. Coming off the bench, Splawn added 13 points for the Tigers. Senior Murphy Burns had 12 points and senior Libby Kruse had eight points, 16 rebounds, five assists and three blocks for the game.
In the first SCAC game of the weekend, Trinity blew out Colorado College 79-53.
“Against Colorado College, I thought that we moved the ball really well,” Coley said. “Our full court press was very effective and we had really balanced scoring.”
Richardson led the Tigers with 15 points, shooting 7-9 from the field. Burns scored 12 points and hit 5-5 free throws. Kruse added seven points and six rebounds for the Tigers, while Coley had nine points and seven assists.
“Every chance to coach a team at Trinity University is a wonderful and special opportunity that should never be taken for granted. In the great seasons it’s great, and in the bad season it’s still really great to be a member of this community. I’m proud of our team and excited for the future. I think women’s basketball will be right back where we need to be next year,” Hill said.
