Tigers too much for ’Roo women
SHERMAN – Trinity dominated on the offensive glass and went 18-of-21 from the free throw line in the second half alone as they pulled away from the Austin College women’s basketball team for a 66-56 victory on Friday night in Hughey Gymnasium. Katy Williams recorded her sixth straight double-double in the loss, scoring 23 points and grabbing 12 rebounds.
The Tigers got out to a 5-2 early before a bucket by Annie Laski and a triple from Amber Stafford put the ’Roos up 7-5 with 16:21 left in the opening frame, and five minutes later Austin College extended its lead to 12-9 on a basket from Williams at the 11:55 mark.
Trinity took the lead back behind five straight points from Tierney Hughes, and baskets from Meghan Scholbe and Alexandra Blake extended the Tiger lead to 22-14 with 7:19 on the clock. Maegan Fitzgerald brought the ’Roos back to within three with a trey at the 4:56 mark to make it 23-20, and another Stafford triple made it 25-23 with three and a half to go.
Trinity pushed the lead back to nine with an 8-0 run, with Krista Prato Matthews scoring four quick points and Hughes knocking down another three ball to make it 32-23 with 2:32 on the clock.
The ’Roos responded with a 5-0 run to finish out the half though, cutting it to a 32-28 game heading into the locker room after a jumper from Stafford and another trey from Fitzgerald.
In the second half Stafford hit another from deep to make it a 37-34 Trinity lead, and after the Tigers extended back to a seven point lead on a layup by Megan D’Errico to make it 43-36, Williams scored four straight to bring Austin College back to within three with 13:29 left in the game.
The Tigers would respond with a 7-0 run capped off by a basket and later a free throw by Prato Matthews to make it a 10 point game with 8:25 remaining, and after Stafford nailed another triple to make it a 50-43 game, Trinity scored the next four to push the lead back into double digits with 7:19 remaining.
The Tigers pounded the ’Roos on the offensive boards down the stretch, grabbing 14 of their own misses in the second half and made Austin College pay by drawing fouls and getting to the free throw line on virtually every possession the rest of the way. Trinity scored it’s final 10 points from the free throw line over the final 5:33, while the ’Roos were unable to get things going on the offensive end.
Austin College managed to get back within eight points when Williams scored a layup and Kayla Redden knocked down a three to make it 62-54, but that’s as close as the ’Roos would get as the Tigers held on for the 66-56 victory.
Trinity shot just 26.7% in the second half and 31.3% overall, but used a 24-of-29 performance at the free throw line and out-boarded the ’Roos 49-39 in the game. Prato Matthews scored 20 points and grabbed 10 boards and added four blocked shots, and Hughes and Scholbe each added 12 points. Blake came up one rebound shy of a double-double, finishing with 10 points and nine rebounds.
For Austin College, Williams hit 9-of-18 attempts from the field to finish with 23 points and grabbed five of her game-high 12 boards on the offensive end. She added three assists and three steals. Stafford was the only other ’Roo to hit double figures, knocking down 4-of-6 from deep on her way to 14 points, while Redden finished with eight rebounds and a game-high six assists.
Austin College plays its final game of the regular season on Sunday when the ’Roos host Southwestern University with game time set for 12:00 p.m. in Hughey Gym.
Austin College men fall to Trinity
SHERMAN – Trinity knocked down 10-of-18 attempts from deep and won the battle of the boards by a decisive 47-29 margin, using a big second half to top the Austin College men’s basketball team 65-49 on Friday night in Hughey Gymnasium. The Tigers outscored the ’Roos by 12 in the second half on their way to the win.
The game started out ugly for both teams, with both teams struggling to find their range from the field and turning the ball over several times in the early going. Trinity struck first and got out to a 7-2 lead on a jumper by Luke Caldarera with 15:36 remaining. A three pointer by Dwight Lutz four and a half minutes later made it 12-5 in favor of the Tigers.
Kola Alade scored in the paint and Adam Bishop knocked down a three to trim it to a 12-10 game with just under 10 minutes left in the half, but the Tigers got consecutive threes from Caldarera to make it 18-10 with 9:11 to play. Trinity hit their first four triples of the game.
After a pair of free throws from Darsh Singh made it 20-13 in favor of the Tigers with just over eight minutes before the break, Alade and Chris Sturtevant combined for all seven points during a 7-0 run to knot things up at 20 with 5:38 on the clock.
Two more threes from Charles Houston and Patrick Robinson pushed it back to a 27-20 lead for Trinity but Alade answered with two threes of his own during an 8-0 run to give the ’Roos a 28-27 edge with just over a minute and a half left. The lead was short lived however, as the Tigers scored the final five points of the half to take a 32-28 lead into the locker room.
Alade hit another three early in the second half to make it a 36-33 game, but the Tigers stayed hot from beyond the arc with Robinson and Lutz each hitting a trifecta as Trinity opened up a 47-36 lead with 9:56 to play.
The ’Roos tried to keep it close, with Alade knocking down another trey to cut it to a single digit deficit, but Lutz hit two more threes to push it to a 54-39 advantage with 6:22 to play. The ’Roos were unable to get the lead under 11 the rest of the way, and the Tigers held on for the 65-49 victory.
Lutz hit 4-of-5 from deep on his way to a team-best 14 points off the bench, and Caldarera added 12 points also coming off the bench. No Trinity starters reached double figures, with Houston scoring eight points and adding three steals. Ten players got into the scoring column overall in the win. Barrett Koch had a game-high seven rebounds and BJ Moon had four assists.
Alade finished with 24 points to lead all scorers, knocking down 4-of-6 attempts from deep, and added four assists, four rebounds, and three steals. Sturtevant finished with 10 points and six rebounds, as Austin College shot just 33.9% from the field in the game.
Austin College closes out the regular season and will be looking to win its way into the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference Tournament when the ’Roos host Southwestern University on Sunday at 2:00 p.m. in Hughey Gym for a must win contest.
Austin College athletic teams participate as a member of the NCAA Division III and the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference.
Austin College is a leading national independent liberal arts college located 60 miles north of Dallas in Sherman, Texas. Founded in 1849, making it the oldest institution of higher education in Texas operating under original name and charter, the college is related by covenant to the Presbyterian Church (USA). Recognized nationally for academic excellence in the areas of international education, pre-professional training, and leadership studies, Austin College is one of 40 schools profiled in Loren Pope’s influential book “Colleges that Change Lives.”