TACOMA, Wash. – The 10th-ranked Trinity University women's basketball team closed out its trip to the Pacific Northwest with a narrow 76-73 loss at the University of Redlands on Wednesday evening.

The Tigers fell to 8-3 this season with its second loss of the week, while Redlands improved to 6-3 this season with the team's fourth straight win. Trinity still leads the series with UPS with five wins in eight meetings between the two teams.

Trinity trailed by as many as 12 points early in the second quarter, but rallied to within three at the half. The two teams traded leads several times in the fourth quarter, but Puget Sound hit its free throws in the final minute to keep the Tigers from stealing a win in the end.

The second-half turnaround from the Tigers was fueled by junior Josie Napoli (Beaverton, Ore. / Valley Catholic) and first-year Jamie Ruede (Pipe Creek, Texas / Boerne). Ruede finished with a career-best 27 points overall, while Napoli scored 21 of her 22 points in the second half and nailed all six of her three-pointers made in the final two quarters.

Napoli connected on 6-of-12 from beyond the arc and added a team-best six rebounds to go along with four assists and a pair of steals. Ruede hit four three-pointers and went 7-for-8 at the free throw line, dishing out a pair of assists and grabbing three boards.

Skye O'Rourke (Austin, Texas / Vandegrift) came off the bench with 13 points for the only other Tiger player in double figures, while also contributing five rebounds. Bailey Timmons (Argyle, Texas / Argyle) tied Napoli for the team lead with four assists and two steals, as well as collecting four rebounds.

The Rundown
The two teams were trading three-pointers to start the game, but Puget Sound broke a 6-6 tie with seven unanswered points to take the early advantage. The Tigers broke up the streak but scored just nine points over the final 7:41 of the quarter and trailed 22-15 after one.

The Loggers scored five quick points to take their largest lead of the game in the opening moments of the second quarter. Trinity's defense got the team going after that, holding the home team to just five points over the final 8:41 of the second period. Down 27-15, the Tigers rattled off 14 straight points to take the lead and Ruede led the way with eight of those 14 points. Her two free throws with 39 seconds left in the half made it a 29-27 lead for Trinity, but UPS scored five quick points to close things out and take a 32-29 lead into the break.

Napoli shook off her rough first half with a stellar third quarter to keep Trinity in the game. The sharp-shooting guard hit three of her four three-point attempts and finished with 11 total points in the quarter. O'Rourke dropped in back-to-back buckets later in the quarter to give Trinity a brief 43-42 lead with a little more than three minutes left in the third. Puget Sound finished with a 13-2 run down the stretch, but Napoli gave Trinity life once more with a buzzer-beating three from just inside the half court line to make it a 55-48 game heading into the fourth.

The Tigers continued the run into the fourth quarter, scoring the first nine points of the period to take a 57-55 lead after less than three minutes. Counting the third-quarter buzzer-beater, Trinity had scored 12 unanswered points to pull in front and Napoli had nine of the 12 Tiger tallies. The Loggers strung together two straight triples of their own to pull back in front, but Napoli and Ruede turned up the intensity to keep pace for Trinity. Down 64-60, the duo scored the next 12 Trinity points. Napoli hit a game-tying three with 4:21 to play, then Ruede put the Tigers up 69-66 with a long-range shot of her own at the 3:45 mark. Puget Sound scored a pair of buckets on its next two possessions and the Tigers came up empty as the home team edged in front 70-69 with 2:36 left in the game. Moments later, Timmons hit a pair of foul shots to put Trinity back in front, but the Tigers missed four shots in a row down the stretch and UPS took advantage.

The Loggers took the lead with a bucket at the 1:22 mark, then Trinity had a costly turnover to give the ball back to the home team. The Tiger defense forced a miss, but Puget Sound got the offensive rebound and Trinity was forced to foul with under 20 seconds to play. Puget Sound scored on a pair of free throws with 11 seconds left, but Ruede drove to the bucket and converted two free throws of her own to cut the lead back to one at 74-73 with around six seconds to go. Trinity fouled again and UPS missed the second of two free throws, but another critical offensive rebound kept the Tigers from taking advantage. UPS hit one of two foul shots again to make it 76-73 with two seconds left, but Trinity's final three-point shot after a timeout fell short.

Coach Speak
"Patch Adams said you can treat the disease and you can win or lose, but if you treat the patient you always win," said Head Coach Cameron Hill. "Well we have plenty of patients to treat and that's exactly what we're gonna do. Big thank you to Casey and Puget Sound.  We can always count on high quality basketball when we come here.  Win or lose you can grow from the trip. Merry Christmas you filthy animals! ONWARD!"

Up Next
Trinity will have nearly a week off before playing again, though the Tigers will be back on the road once again competing in the D3hoops.com Classic in Las Vegas. Trinity faces Ohio Northern at 12:00 p.m. (PT) on Thursday, December 28, followed by a matchup with Framingham State University (MA) at 10:00 a.m. (PT) on Friday, December 29.