SAN ANTONIO – Trinity's No. 5/6 women's basketball team will play two more games this weekend, including the team's home opener against Sul Ross State University on Sunday, November 20.
The Tigers begin the week with a third straight road game to open the season, facing off against Howard Payne University in Brownwood, Texas, at 7:30 p.m. on Friday, November 18. That sets up the 2022-23 home opener on Sunday afternoon at 3:00 p.m.
Trinity opened the season with a bang as the Tigers shattered several records in a 140-87 win at Birmingham-Southern College last weekend. The team followed that with an 80-58 win over Millsaps College the next day. Trinity's 140 points scored broke last season's record of 122 points in a game, while
Addie Putnam (Scottsdale, Ariz. / Xavier College Prep) connected on 11-of-11 field goals to break the record for most field goals without missing in a game. Putnam played in her first game since the 2020-21 season after missing all of last year with an injury.
NCAA Rankings: WBCA and D3hoops.com
The Women's Basketball Coaches Association placed Trinity sixth in its preseason poll, while D3hoops.com has the Tigers fifth in the nation. Neither organization has released a new poll after the first week of the season.
Honors and Awards: SCAC Player of the Week
Speaking of Putnam, her performance last weekend earned her the first Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference Player of the Week award of the season. Putnam scored a career-high 26 points in the record-breaking win over BSC, adding four rebounds, four steals, and three assists. Her 11-for-11 from the field performance was not only a Trinity record, but also tied the SCAC record for most field goals without a miss. Putnam scored 15 points on 6-of-9 shooting in the win over Millsaps, dishing out four more assists and two steals.
Preview: Howard Payne (Nov. 18) and Sul Ross (Nov. 20)
Trinity is 3-5 against Howard Payne and 1-0 against Sul Ross during the SCAC era (since 1991-92). This will be the first meeting between the Tigers and Yellowjackets in Brownwood since 2006-07 and Trinity is just 1-3 on the road in this series. Trinity's only win came in the 1st Round of the NCAA Playoffs in 2005, shocking the home team with a buzzer-beater to win 57-55. The lone game of the series with Sul Ross came during the 2018-19 season at Trinity, which was a 79-62 win for the Tigers.
Putnam's hot start was on display with her SCAC Player of the Week award, though there are four other Tiger players averaging 9.5 points per game or better. Sophomore
Josie Napoli (Beaverton, Ore. / Valley Catholic) is second on the team with 16.0 points/game and she has had a red-hot start to her Tiger career. She has hit 10-of-17 (58.5%) from the field, but the real damage has been her 7-of-11 (63.6%) shooting from three-point range. Like Putnam,
Claire Hale (San Antonio, Texas / Brandeis) made a triumphant return from injury by scoring 20 points in the opening game, adding eight rebounds and shooting 83.3% (10-for-12) from the field.
Maggie Shipley (Arlington, Va. / Yorktown) is averaging 9.5 points/game and leads the team with 6.5 rebounds/game to start the year.
Ashlyn Milton (Amarillo, Texas / Amarillo) is tied with Putnam for the team lead with seven assists over two games, and both players are also tied for second among their Tiger teammates with six steals.
Maggie Robbins (Plano, Texas / Plano) leads the way with seven steals and has dished out five assists.
Looking Ahead: Hardin-Simmons (Nov. 22 and 26) and LeTourneau (Nov. 27)
Trinity is headed towards its busiest stretch of the season that will include five games in a span of just 10 days. After this weekend's games, the Tigers are back on the road to kick off a home-and-home series with No. 18 Hardin-Simmons University on Tuesday, November 22. Trinity and HSU face off again on Saturday, November 26, then the Tigers host LeTourneau University on Sunday, November 27.
