SEGUIN, Texas – The #8/14 Tiger women's basketball team earned a hard-fought 86-76 overtime Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference road win over Texas Lutheran University on Saturday night.

Down two with 3.54 seconds left coming out of a timeout, Maggie Robbins (Plano, Texas / Plano) found Natalie Anderson (San Jose, Calif. / Archbishop Mitty) under the basket, and Anderson's layup at the buzzer sent the game into overtime. All told, Trinity (6-1, 2-0) rallied from a 17-point fourth-quarter deficit to keep the game going, then started the extra period with an 11-0 run to put the game out of reach.

Anderson tied her career-high with 27 points on 9-of-16 shooting from the field and 9-of-11 from the free throw line. She posted her first career double-double by also leading the team with a career-high 12 rebounds in the game. Robbins finished with 15 points, adding eight rebounds, four assists, and three steals.

Jamie Ruede (Pipe Creek, Texas / Boerne) picked up 11 points in her first career start for the Tigers, while Kylie Minter (League City, Texas / Clear Springs) and A'nnika Saenz (Edinburg, Texas / Edinburg) both chipped in with 10 points off the bench. Josie Napoli (Beaverton, Ore. / Valley Catholic) finished with nine points and tied for the team lead with four assists.

Trinity will not play again for nearly two weeks, returning home for more SCAC action as the Tigers will host Austin College and the University of Dallas on December 15 and 16.

The Rundown
The Tigers made just one basket in their first six attempts and Texas Lutheran jumped out a 10-2 lead just minutes into the game. Trinity's struggles continued the entire quarter and the Bulldogs scored seven of the final nine points of the period to take a 21-10 lead. The Tigers made just four field goals in the quarter and also turned the ball over five times to make matters worse.

The second quarter didn't start much better as Trinity was held scoreless for more than three minutes at the start. One of the only positives for the Tigers at the start was that the defense had also held TLU to just two points over the same stretch, though the lead was 13 points. The dry spell continued on offense and the lead inched out to 30-13 past the midway point of the quarter. Trinity got no closer than 12 points the rest of the way and only two late free throws by Robbins brought the lead down to 39-24 at the break.

With the third quarter came new life on offense for the Tigers, but Texas Lutheran kept pace and still held a big lead by the end. Trinity closed the gap to just 10 in the first few minutes of the quarter, but the Bulldogs climbed back up by 16 with 3:24 remaining in the period. A late 7-0 TLU run had the home team on the verge of a blowout with a 58-39 advantage with under 30 seconds left. Instead, the Tigers picked up a rare five-point play in the final seconds and the momentum began to shift. Saenz hit a three to start the play and Skye O'Rourke (Austin, Texas / Vandegrift) was fouled and converted both free throws after the shot.

Despite the finish by Trinity at the end of the third, Texas Lutheran came out and picked up three quick points to take the lead back to 17 at 61-44. The Tigers were unfazed, though, and Anderson's three-point play was followed by three-point buckets from Robbins and Ruede. Trinity had made just 3-of-15 from three-point range in the first three quarters, but those two makes started a streak that saw the team hit 4-for-5 from distance over a span of just over two minutes and the lead was down to four (63-59) with less than six minutes left. The extended run for Trinity continued for several minutes and wound up with Trinity taking a 64-63 lead on a Ruede three-pointer at the four-minute mark. After that first minute that saw TLU go in front by 17, Trinity scored 20 of the next 22 points to take its first lead. 

The teams traded buckets on the next two possessions and the Tigers still held a narrow 66-65 lead as the game approached the two-minute mark. The Bulldogs made one of its two foul shots to tie the game, then stole the ball from Anderson and took back the lead with a layup. Anderson got redemption on the next possession, tying the game 68-68 with 1:14 remaining. Texas Lutheran turned the ball over after a timeout, but Trinity missed two three-pointers that might have finished off the win with just 35 seconds left. Instead, Texas Lutheran was back at the line and eased in front by making one of two foul shots once again. Trinity had another shot at winning in the final seconds, but couldn't convert and was forced to foul once again with under four seconds left.

Texas Lutheran made the first to take a two-point lead, then a miss on the second prompted a timeout by the Tigers. The inbounds play worked to perfection as Anderson threw the ball in to Robbins at the top of the key, then immediately broke for the basket. Anderson found an opening as the Tigers set up double screens near the perimeter, and Robbins quickly got the ball under the basket. Anderson caught it and put it up, and the ball rattled around and in to beat the buzzer and tie things up 70-70.

Anderson started overtime with another basket that was followed by a Minter three-pointer to give Trinity a 75-70 lead. Robbins got a steal and a breakaway bucket for two more, then Anderson sank two free throws after getting fouled to make it a nine-point lead. Minter scored again to complete the 11-0 run to start the overtime period, and the Tigers led 81-70 with just 2:22 remaining. Texas Lutheran got to within seven, but had a turnover and two missed shots on the next three possessions. Trinity then knocked down 5-of-6 free throws in the final 40 seconds to seal the win.

Coach Speak
"All I know is, Roy Hobbs was 0-4, had broken his bat, and was bleeding all before he hit the home run to win the pennant," said Head Coach Cameron Hill. "Pop should have been a farmer, maybe, but the Together Tigers should keep doing what comes NATURAL!! Onward."

Up Next
Following a weekend off, the Tigers will resume conference play by hosting Austin College on Friday, December 15, at 7:30 p.m. Trinity then finishes the weekend against Dallas on Saturday at 6:00 p.m.