SAN ANTONIO – The Trinity University women's basketball team wrapped up its non-conference schedule for the 2024-25 regular season with a narrow 79-75 loss against 13th-ranked Hardin-Simmons University (TX) on Tuesday night.

The Tigers fell to 6-5 this season with the loss and Hardin-Simmons improved to 14-1 with its ninth straight victory. Trinity is now 16-10 in the series with the Cowgirls, including a 12-5 mark under Head Coach Cameron Hill (since 2012-13). This also marks the ninth time in those last 17 meetings that the game has been decided by less than 10 points.

Trinity erased a double-digit deficit in the third quarter to tie things up heading into the fourth, then took its first lead of the night with just over two minutes to play. The Tigers also tied the game 75-75 with less than a minute remaining, but Hardin-Simmons hit a go-ahead three-pointer with just under 30 seconds left and held on for the win.

Kylie Minter (League City, Texas / Clear Springs) led Trinity with 15 points and seven rebounds, knocking down 5-for-9 from the field that included a 4-for-4 performance from beyond the arc. Skye O'Rourke (Austin, Texas / Vandegrift) hit 7-of-14 from the floor on her way to a 14-point night, while Bailey Timmons (Argyle, Texas / Argyle) rounded out the Tigers in double figures with 11 points to go with four assists. Elaine King (Cedar Park, Texas / Cedar Park) stuffed the stat sheet with eight points, five rebounds, five assists, and four blocks for the Tigers. Josie Napoli (Beaverton, Ore. / Valley Catholic) tied King for the team lead with five assists and had a team-best three steals to go with seven points. Livy Sauvageau (Houston, Texas / Second Baptist) led the Trinity bench with seven points, with Natalie Greenwood (Roanoke, Texas / Byron Nelson) picking up six points and five boards in the game.

The Rundown
Trinity had about as bad a start as it could get, scoring just seven points in the first quarter of play and falling behind by 16 points by the time the buzzer sounded. Hardin-Simmons started the game with an 11-2 run that included the first five points of the game. Trinity cut the lead to just four at the midway point of the quarter with layup from King and a three-pointer from Minter that were both assisted by Timmons; however, the Cowgirls scored the final 11 points of the period to lead 23-7, holding the Tigers scoreless over the final 5:23 of the quarter.

The second quarter started with what looked like a whole new Trinity team as the Tigers scored eight of the first nine points to bring the lead to single digits in the opening minutes. Hardin-Simmons made its first basket of the quarter to break up the run, then sank two free throws to take the lead back to 28-15 with 6:26 remaining in the half. Trinity had that lead down to four as three different players contributed to a 7-0 spurt by the three-minute mark. Maddie Mueller (Houston, Texas / Concordia Lutheran) nailed a three-pointer less than a minute later to cut the lead to 30-27 with just over two minutes left, but Hardin-Simmons scored six straight down the stretch to pull away again. Savageau got free for a buzzer-beater to make it a 36-29 game at the break.

The lead dropped to four less than two minutes into the third quarter, but the Cowgirls scored nine of the next 11 points to get the lead back to double figures at 47-36 with more than six minutes left. The Tiger defense gave up just five points the rest of the period and the offense surged with 16 points during that stretch to come all the way back. Savageau had five of the 16 points, while Greenwood recorded back-to-back buckets to close the period with the teams tied 52-52.

The final quarter started with Hardin-Simmons scoring the first five points to regain the advantage, and while Trinity made it a one-possession game several times over the first few minutes, Hardin-Simmons kept the lead most of the way. Hot shooting from three-point range put the Cowgirls out to a 72-65 lead with under four minutes to go, but Minter answered with a three of her own that jump-started an 8-0 run that put the Tigers in front 73-72 with 2:08 left. King drew a foul for an and-one three-point play after the Minter triple, then King found Timmons under the basket for the go-ahead score. Hardin-Simmons got a three-point play of its own with less than 90 seconds to play, then O'Rourke snagged an offensive rebound and got a game-tying layup with under a minute left that made it 75-75. The Cowgirls hit a go-ahead three-pointer with 29.8 seconds left and Trinity was unable to get open for a three on its next possession. The Tigers missed their final shot and had to foul with 6.2 seconds to go. Hardin-Simmons made 1-of-2 at the line, but it was enough to hang on for the narrow win.

Coach Speak
"When I refer to Jack T. Colton and Joan Wilder and the amazing time they had Romancing the Stone, I know that most people will scratch their heads," said Coach Hill. "However, together they successfully navigated one of the best romantic adventure stories in movie history. Best things about the movie were, one, she was writing it as it happened, and two, everything that went wrong along the way eventually made all the difference in the end. That is the same for our embattled TOGETHERS! This adventure is just beginning and we have pen in hand to write our own ending. Stay tuned. ONWARD!"

Up Next
Trinity will resume Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference play with two home games this weekend, hosting McMurry University (TX) on Friday, January 10, at 5:30 p.m., then facing off against Concordia University (TX) at 12:00 p.m. on Sunday, January 12.