MARSHALL, Texas – The No. 6/12 Trinity University women's basketball team finished off its opening weekend of the season with an 80-71 road win over East Texas Baptist University on Sunday afternoon.
The Tigers (2-0) also won 84-74 over the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor last night and will return home with an undefeated record to start the year. Trinity is now 3-1 in the last four meetings with ETBU, dating back to the 2010-11 season. Trinity lost the last meeting 76-70 in November of 2021.
After a dreadful first quarter that saw the TU Tigers score just nine points and fall behind by 15 points, Trinity put on a dazzling display in the second and third quarters, scoring 53 of its 80 points over that stretch. The Tigers then held off several comeback attempts by ETBU in the final quarter to earn the win.
Josie Napoli (Beaverton, Ore. / Valley Catholic) tied the Trinity single-game record with seven three-pointers made, hitting 7-of-13 (53.8%) from distance on her way to a career-high 27 points to lead the Tiger team to victory. She also led the team with seven assists and six steals, as well as pulling down five rebounds.
Natalie Anderson (San Jose, Calif. / Archbishop Mitty) just missed a double-double for the second straight game, finishing with 12 points and nine boards – including five offensive rebounds.
Ava Limonciello (Waltham, Mass. / St. Mark's School) finished with 11 points on 4-of-9 shooting in the game, while
Jamie Ruede (Pipe Creek, Texas / Boerne) and
Kylie Minter (League City, Texas / Clear Springs) both came off the bench to score double figures as well. Ruede hit four three-pointers for the second straight game to finish with 12, while Minter finished with 11 points.
The Rundown
The game was tied 6-6 after less than three minutes, but Trinity managed just three more points over the final seven minutes of the game. Limonciello scored the first eight points of the game for the Tigers, and the lead was just two (10-8) at the midway point of the quarter. East Texas Baptist finished with 14 points over the final five minutes and seemed to be well in control with a 24-9 lead after one.
After the home team added another bucket to start the second quarter and put Trinity behind by 17, Napoli caught fire with three of her seven three-point baskets in the first 2:32 of the second period. Limonciello started a string of nine straight Trinity points with a three-pointer, and the pesky visitors had trimmed the lead to just five points (32-27) with 4:32 left in the half. The lead was back to nine two minutes later, but Trinity scored 11 of the next 13 to tie the game 39-39 in the final minute. Ruede hit back-to-back threes to tie things up, but East Texas got the final bucket to take a 41-39 lead after two quarters of play.
The table had been set after the prolific second quarter and Trinity used the halftime break to recharge for another strong quarter. East Texas held a four-point lead in the early part of the third when Anderson and Napoli combined for five quick points to put Trinity on top. After ETBU pulled back in front briefly, Ruede nailed another three to give Trinity the lead for good. Minter scored the team's final five points in the quarter to put Trinity up 10 with 22 seconds left, and even though ETBU scored once more to close out the quarter, the TU Tigers held a 62-54 lead.
Napoli started the fourth with another three-pointer to push the Trinity lead to 11, but East Texas cut that lead to just five at the 7:04 mark (65-60). It took nearly 90 seconds for either team to score again, but it was another long-range shot from Napoli that broke up the drought. She then answered two ETBU free throws with her record-tying seventh three that pushed the lead back to nine points (71-62) at the midway point of the final quarter. Ruede hit another three to get Trinity's lead back to double digits, but East Texas answered with four quick points in a bid to change the momentum, but Napoli scored her final bucket at the 2:36 mark to make it a 76-67 game. Two free throws for the home team at the 1:19 mark closed the gap back to six (77-71), but Trinity held ETBU scoreless from that point to finish off the victory.
Up Next
Trinity will make its home debut for the 2023-24 season on Friday, November 17, against Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Colleges (CA). The teams are scheduled to tip off at 6:00 p.m. on Friday night.
