SAN ANTONIO - No. 6/12 Tiger Women's basketball put on a show on Saturday night with a 96-78 win over Cal Lutheran.
 
Junior Josie Napoli (Beaverton, Oregon / Valley Catholic) went off, scoring 23 points on 6-8 shooting and 4-4 from behind the arc. Senior Maggie Robbins (Plano, Texas / Plano) put up a new season high in points with 11 on 4-6 shooting. Finally, sophomore Natalie Anderson (San Jose, California / Archbishop Mitty) put together another solid outing, collecting 16 points and seven boards.
 
The Rundown
 
The first quarter got started with the Tigers jumping out to a quick 13-5 lead off of a pull-up jumper by Ava Limonciello (Waltham, Massachusetts / St. Mark's School). However, playing inside the arc wasn't the forte of the Tigers in the first quarter. The Tigers were quick to jump passes and get the ball into the hands of their play makers. Anderson would swing the ball to Kylie Minter (League City, Texas / Clear Springs) behind the arc and the Tiger bench would hold up their "threes" as Minter's shot would make that beautiful swish sound. The Tigers weren't done there, Minter would get up the floor in a hurry and pull up from the wing, and the Tiger fans would stand and cheer as Minter would drain it to extend the Tiger lead to double-digits. The Tigers did not miss a shot from three-point land until less than a minute left in the first quarter. How would the Tigers finish out the quarter? You guessed it, with a triple. Sophomore Skye O'Rourke (Austin, Texas / Vandergrift) would splash a corner three to end the quarter with the Tigers up 30-27.
 
 Although the score was close, the Tigers were ready to get back their big lead. The Tigers were even hitting threes from the line as well. Napoli would get fouled hard on her shot attempt and she would be sent to the line. Napoli would knock down all three free throws to bring the Tiger lead to 35-27. The Regals would close the gap to nine, but Jennifer Tierney (Orinda, California / Miramonte) wanted that lead to get back to double digits as she launched a three that found the bottom of the net. The Tigers would slow down a bit offensively late in the half but would still take a seven-point lead into the break. 
 
The Regals would come into the second half hot with a quick steal and bucket. The Tigers would take notes from the 2014 Spurs as their ball movement was immaculate and led the Tigers to a big 10-2 run capped off by a hot-handed Napoli three-pointer. Later in the quarter, Minter missed a jumper, but Anderson would come swooping in to crash the offensive glass and get the easy lay-in to bring the Tiger lead to 17. The Regals struggled to get anything going offensively due to the excellent and elegant footwork of the Tiger defense. A quick turnaround "j" by O'Rourke would end the scoring for the Tigers in the third quarter and the Tigers would sustain their 17-point lead going into the final quarter of play.
 
The fourth quarter would get rocking with head coach Cameron Hill pumping his fist as a Maggie Robbins corner three would fall just 30 seconds into the fourth. From that point on, it was all Tigers. Although the Tigers and Regals would trade a few points, the Tigers were ready to solidify their win. The Tigers accelerated pace of play and good free throw shooting would ultimately be too much for the Regals as a six-point run by the Tigers late in the quarter would put the Regals' backs to the wall. O'Rourke would hit the dagger with 48 seconds left and the Tigers fans would go home pleased as the Togethers would take on another check in the "W" column. 

Coach Speak
 
"Ice Cube said it best, 'Today was a good day,'" began Coach Hill. "Volleyball showed out at Berry, heading home for a big hug from Terri. Men's hoops hit some threes and twos, sent Whitman home singing the Blues. Football did more than protect the code, they ran through round one in freakin' Beast Mode. Then the TOGETHERS showed up and blew off the roof, aren't you happy, Mr. Maloof? ONWARD."
 
Up Next - Abilene Trip
 
The Tigers will travel to Abilene for their next game against Hardin-Simmons University on Saturday, November 25th.