SAN ANTONIO – The Trinity University women's basketball team closed out the 2024 calendar year with a 79-64 loss to East Texas Baptist University on Sunday evening.

Trinity dropped to 5-4 this season with its second straight loss, while East Texas Baptist improved to 10-3 on the year. The TU Tigers still lead the series between the two schools with a 3-2 record, though this is the first loss for Trinity in San Antonio against ETBU. Trinity struggled offensively by hitting just 32.4% from the field, though the team did connect on 7-of-20 (35%) from three-point range and 13-of-16 (81.3%) from the line. East Texas Baptist shot 42% overall and matched Trinity's shooting from three-point range, while also scoring 40 of its points in the paint.

Bailey Timmons (Argyle, Texas / Argyle) recorded a double-double with 12 points and a team-leading 10 rebounds, adding a pair of steals. Livy Sauvageau (Houston, Texas / Second Baptist) tied for the team lead with a career-high 13 points, hitting 5-for-7 overall and 3-for-4 from three-point range. Josie Napoli (Beaverton, Ore. / Valley Catholic) also picked up 13 points and the two Tiger guards tied for the team lead with four assists as well. Napoli added six rebounds and three steals, while Savageau chipped in with four rebounds. Skye O'Rourke (Austin, Texas / Vandegrift) also reached double figures with 10 points scored, while Maddie Mueller (Houston, Texas / Concordia Lutheran) scored nine points to lead the Trinity subs.

The Rundown
Both teams started slowly on offense, but O'Rourke nailed a three-pointer to start the scoring nearly two minutes into the game. It took nearly five minutes for East Texas Baptist to score its first bucket, though the visiting Tigers did have three free throws to keep pace with Trinity with a 5-5 score at the midway point of the quarter. ETBU took its first lead just over a minute later with its first three-pointer and had the lead up to 15-8 at the two-minute mark. Mueller and Napoli made back-to-back threes after that to trim the lead to just one, but East Texas Baptist scored the final two baskets to take a 19-14 lead after one quarter. The teams traded baskets early in the second quarter, but East Texas Baptist had the lead up to six nearly three minutes in when Savageau nailed a three to cut the lead in half at 23-20. Trinity scored just four points the rest of the quarter, though, and ETBU took a 39-24 lead at the break.

Savageau helped Trinity keep pace early in the third quarter with a pair of three-pointers, but the ETBU lead grew to 18 points just past the midway point of the period. With the lead back to 18 nearly a minute later, Trinity scored nine straight points to bring the deficit back to single digits at 53-44 with 2:02 to play in the quarter. Napoli started the run with a bucket and two free throws, then Timmons hit a pair of foul shots and Mueller converted an and-one after getting a steal to finish the rally. The TU Tigers got within eight at the 1:06 mark on a bucket by Timmons, but ETBU answered with five points in the final minute to take a 59-46 lead heading into the final quarter.

Trinity had the lead back to nine a couple of times early in the fourth quarter, but couldn't get any closer the rest of the way. Savageau made it a 10-point game with 7:20 remaining, but ETBU scored eight of the next 10 points to take the lead up to 72-56 with under five minutes left. The lead was up to 17 just over a minute later when Mueller hit all three foul shots after getting fouled on a three-pointer, then Jivana Caceres (Kyle, Texas / Hays) knocked down a three of her own to make it an 11-point game with 1:59 left. That wound up being the final points of the game for Trinity and East Texas Baptist made two more shots in the final minute to put the finishing touches on the win.

Coach Speak
"I didn't go to Texas A&M, but I do know that if you harvest your crop before it's matured, people get sick," said Head Coach Cameron Hill. "We just need to keep the sprinklers on, and everything will fully develop at the right time. ONWARD!"

Up Next
Trinity will host Schreiner University (TX) in a Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference game that begins at 5:30 p.m. on Monday, January 6. The Tigers then host Hardin-Simmons University (TX) the next night, tipping off at 6:00 p.m.