GEORGETOWN, Texas – The #8/14 Tiger women's basketball team opened up the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference portion of its schedule with an 88-59 road win at Southwestern University on Friday night.

Trinity improved to 5-1 overall this season, while the Pirates dropped to 1-9 on the year. The win is the 17th consecutive against Southwestern and the Tigers improve to 51-18 in the series (since 1991-92). Despite shooting just 20.6% from the field in the first half, Trinity held a 30-29 lead by forcing 16 turnovers over the first two quarters of play. The Tigers came out on fire in the second half, though, scoring a total of 58 points after halftime to blow the game wide open.

Josie Napoli (Beaverton, Ore. / Valley Catholic) paced four Tigers in double figures with 21 points to go along with a team-best four assists as well. Napoli connected on 9-of-10 at the free throw line for nearly half of her scoring total and also knocked down a pair of three-pointers.

Natalie Anderson (San Jose, Calif. / Archbishop Mitty) hit 7-of-13 from the field on her way to 17 points, while also leading the team with seven rebounds. Elaine King (Cedar Park, Texas / Cedar Park) chipped in with six points and six boards, while Maggie Robbins (Plano, Texas / Plano) had five points, three assists, and a game-best six steals.

Jamie Ruede (Pipe Creek, Texas / Boerne) and A'nnika Saenz (Edinburg, Texas / Edinburg) came off the bench to score 11 and 10 points, respectively, and Ruede also matched Robbins with six steals. Skye O'Rourke (Austin, Texas / Vandegrift) finished with eight points and four rebounds, while Maddie Mueller (Houston, Texas / Concordia Lutheran) had four points and three steals in just 10 minutes.

Trinity closes out its first SCAC weekend of the year at Texas Lutheran University tomorrow, then will return home December 15-16 for the first conference home weekend of the year.

The Rundown
Trinity scored just three points over the first four-plus minutes and Southwestern started the game with a 12-3 lead to that point. Napoli hit her second three of the game to begin a run of five straight Tiger points to make it a four-point game by the middle of the first quarter. After the Pirates pushed it back to an eight-point lead with under three minutes to go in the quarter, the Tigers rallied to within two points after Ruede got a steal and a fastbreak layup. Southwestern got the final points of the period, though, and took a 20-16 lead into the second quarter.

Both teams struggled to score in the second quarter and the defense kept the Tigers in the game. Trinity held Southwestern to just nine points in the quarter – mainly by forcing loads of turnovers and limiting possessions. It took more than six minutes of the second quarter before either team made a field goal. Southwestern had the lead back up to six at 27-21 with 2:22 left in the half, but Trinity scored nine of the final 11 points to take a 30-29 lead into the locker room. All nine points for the Tigers were scored at the line over the final 1:45 – seven of which came from Napoli.

After making just one field goal in the second quarter, Trinity's offense came to life after halftime. The Tigers scored four buckets by four different players in the first three minutes of the third quarter to take a 38-29 lead. Although Southwestern broke up the streak with its first basket of the half, Trinity's run continued as the offense continued to heat up. The Tigers outscored the Pirates 20-8 over the final 5:55 of the quarter and took the lead all the way to 19 points at 58-39.

The 19-point advantage became 30 in a flash as Trinity sprinted out of the quarter break with a 13-2 run just three minutes into the final quarter. King and Anderson had 10 of the 13 points, with Robbins finishing off the hot start with an and-one three-point play. Another bucket from Napoli just over a minute later made it a 73-41 game with less than six minutes remaining, effectively sealing the win.

Coach Speak
"I feel like tonight we emulated Rob Lowe's career – but in reverse," began Head Coach Cameron Hill. "In the first half, we were making Atkins commercials. And because we were so fit and carb free, we turned into DEAN YOUNGBLOOD in the second half and skated to victory in Thunder Bay!! ONWARD."

Up Next
The Tigers wrap up their weekend on the road at Texas Lutheran at 6:00 p.m. on Saturday evening.