]SAN ANTONIO – No. 1/2 Trinity University Women's Basketball topped the D3hoops.com NCAA III poll this week for the first time since the 2003-04 campaign as it returns to San Antonio to open the second cycle of Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference play with visits from Centenary College (LA) and University of St. Thomas.
 
The Tigers (17-0, 8-0 SCAC) continued to stretch the program's best start to a season in its history through road victories Friday at Texas Lutheran University, 76-65, and Saturday at Southwestern University, 125-89. Prior to this season, Trinity Women's Basketball's best undefeated start was 14-0 in the 2016-17 campaign, also under the direction of Head Coach Cameron Hill.
 
In the landslide victory over the Pirates, the Tigers reset the program's record for points in a quarter with 42 points in the first 10 minutes—a record that only stood for 15 games after the 38-point first quarter at Birmingham-Southern College to open the season, 140-87. Saturday's performance in Georgetown extended the program's winning streak against SCAC opponents to 34 straight games including postseason play.
 
Senior Ashlyn Milton (Amarillo, Texas / Amarillo) continues to climb the all-time leaderboard at Trinity as she ranks 13^th in career points (1,091) and 15^th in career steals (161). She became the 19^th player in the program's history to reach the 1,000-point plateau in the Tigers' 74-60 victory over Region 10 foe No. 13/18 University of Puget Sound (Dec. 21).
 
Junior guard Maggie Robbins (Plano, Texas / Plano) slots in just ahead of her senior teammate in a tie for 13^th all-time in steals (167) along with the 17^th spot in career assists (204), becoming the 18^th in school history to reach the 200-mark last time out at Southwestern.
 
Sophomore Josie Napoli (Beaverton, Ore. / Valley Catholic) broke out for her first two 20-point outings as a Tiger in last weekend's SCAC road trip, putting up 23 and 24 points, respectively at TLU and Southwestern. A newcomer to the Trinity roster for 2022-23, Napoli entered four 20-point games in her first collegiate campaign at Pacific Lutheran University last season.
 
D3hoops.com returns Trinity to the pinnacle for the first time since December 2003
 
The third Trinity team to be ranked in the top five nationally in 2022-23—having qualified for the feat in the preseason—Women's Basketball topped the chart this week for the voters of D3hoops.com, receiving 17 of 25 possible first-place votes, which is one shy of the most in program history for a regular-season poll.
 
The Women's Basketball Coaches Association slotted Trinity in second behind Christopher Newport University (VA)—who claimed the third spot from D3hoops.com this week—collecting eight of 10 possible first-place votes while the Tigers collected the remainder. Last season, Trinity defeated the Captains, 76-71, in the third round of the 2022 NCAA III National Championship tournament to mark the program's record 27-game winning streak.
 
Three of this season's opponents remain ranked nationally in both polls. Hardin-Simmons University and University of Mary Hardin-Baylor also represent The Lone Star State, ranked 15^th and 22^nd by D3hoops.com and 16^th and 19^th by the WBCA, respectively. Puget Sound holds the 13^th spot from the WBCA, 18^th from D3hoops.com.
 
University of La Verne (CA) is the only other contender from Region 10 to receive votes in both polls this week, including the 24^th spot from the nation's poll of coaches. Pacific University (OR) earned votes from the WBCA as well, while University of California-Santa Cruz and East Texas Baptist University each made an appearance in the D3hoops.com release.
 
The Second Round Robin: Trinity to host Centenary, St. Thomas for SCAC rematches
 
The 2022-23 SCAC regular season began on the road for the Tigers as they visited Centenary and St. Thomas—both for lopsided victories—in the first weekend of December and will look to continue the success in the return trip to San Antonio.
 
Trinity ranks in the top ten in NCAA III in several statistical categories, including: assists per game (1^st; 20.4), steals per game (3^rd; 18.6), points per game (4^th; 86.6), turnovers forced per game (5^th; 31.0), scoring margin (7^th; 23.7) and turnover margin (7^th; 11.82).
 
Robbins paces the Tigers as the nation's third-ranked player in steals (72) and eighth-ranked in assists (85). Joining her among the NCAA III elite, Milton is fourth in three-point percentage this season (47.4) and 10^th in makes from beyond the arc (46).
 
On the Ladies: Centenary enters the weekend at 1-16 for the season, the lone victory marked in SCAC play as it hosted Austin College on New Year's Eve for a 68-62 result.
 
Trinity has won all 20 matchups with the Ladies since the start of the 2012-13 season, with each of the last seven decided by 23 or more points. This season's first matchup saw the Tigers take a 100-42 result from Shreveport, Louisiana led by a 24-point, 10-rebound line from Milton along with three others in double-figures.
 
On the Celts: St. Thomas will face Schreiner University Friday night with a 3-12 overall record, 2-6 in conference, ahead of Saturday evening's matchup in San Antonio. However, the Celts are responsible for the lowest point total of NCAA III's scoring leader, Birmingham-Southern, as they defeated the Panthers, 84-68, in Houston in November—the same weekend the SCAC improved to 3-0 against BSC with Schreiner's 123-91 result.
 
Trinity has won each of the last five meetings with St. Thomas, and six of seven since the Celts began their transition from the NAIA and joined the SCAC. Outside of the second meeting in January 2020, the Tigers have claimed victory over St. Thomas by 24 or more points in every contest.
 
In December's 82-40 victory, Robbins tied her career-high of 10 steals for second mention in a six-way tie for second in program history. Milton led the way on the offensive end, though narrowly, with 18 points to Robbins's 17 while senior Addie Putnam (Scottsdale, Ariz. / Xavier Prep) joined in double-figures at 11 points.
 
Looking Ahead…
 
No. 1/2 Trinity Women's Basketball will head back out on the road for its next two league matchups after a brief hiatus next weekend. The Tigers will make the return visit to Schreiner January 31, followed by the final scheduled road contest of 2022-23 at Colorado College Sunday, February 5.
 
Trinity will host each of its final four regular-season matchups February 10-18 before taking on its host duties for the 2023 SCAC Women's Basketball Championship tournament February 24-26.