MARSHALL, Texas – The Trinity University women's basketball team wrapped up the ETBU Christmas Classic with a 75-56 loss at the hands of tournament host and #20 East Texas Baptist University on Tuesday evening.

The Tigers (4-7) led ETBU (12-3) after the opening quarter and trailed by just four points heading into the final period. While Trinity went cold from the field and hit just 2-of-15 (13.33%), East Texas Baptist had its best shooting quarter at more than 64% (9-of-14). Despite the final score, Trinity held the edge in second-chance points (13-10) and in points off turnovers (25-18), but East Texas Baptist had a decisive margin (24-10) in the paint to go along with its 52.0% shooting for the game.

Trinity had just two players reach double figures in the game, with Livy Sauvageau (Houston, Texas / Second Baptist) hitting 4-of-6 from the field for 12 points and Kylie Minter (League City, Texas / Clear Springs) connecting on 4-of-6 at the line on her way to an 11-point night. Skye O'Rourke (Austin, Texas / Vandegrift) added nine points and four boards, while Minter and Jailyn Martin (Ashburn, Va. / Virginia Academy) led the team with five rebounds each. Sauvageau, Minter, and Martin all had two steals each to lead the way. Allison Even (Tucson, Ariz. / Salpointe Catholic) led the bench scoring with eight points and Emma Winans (Austin, Texas / Vandegrift) added six points in just 11 minutes.

The Rundown
After ETBU scored the opening points of the game, Trinity exploded into the lead with 11 unanswered points. Minter scored back-to-back buckets to start the scoring and O'Rourke did the same to keep the streak going. Sauvageau had a steal and a three-pointer to cap the run, which left Trinity up 11-2 with more than half the quarter still to play. Winans stopped a 7-0 run by ETBU with her first points of the game ahead of the three-minute mark, then Minter nailed a three-pointer with over a minute left to make it a 16-10 Trinity lead. East Texas Baptist got the final points with less than a minute to go to cut it to a 16-12 game after the first quarter.

Sauvageau started the scoring in the second quarter, then Natalie Greenwood (Dallas, Texas / Byron Nelson) snagged an offensive rebound that led to two free throws to make it a 20-12 lead for Trinity. ETBU scored 10 of the next 12 points, though, and the game was tied 22-22 with 6:09 left in the half. Neither team scored again for nearly two minutes, but it was East Texas Baptist that broke the drought with two more free throws to take its first lead since the opening moments of the game. Sauvageau put the Tigers back in front with another three-pointer, then added two more foul shots with just over three minutes left to make it a 27-24 game. The game was tied again just 20 seconds later as ETBU cashed in with a three-pointer of their own. The hometown Tigers went back in front again on a pair of free throws, but Ivory Scott tied the score again for the visiting Tigers with 2:27 left. Even tied the game again with a jump shot at the 1:40 mark, but ETBU scored five points in the final 38 seconds of the quarter and hit the locker room with a narrow 36-33 lead.

The third quarter began with four straight points for ETBU and the lead was up to seven points in less than a minute. After O'Rourke and Scott got Trinity's scoring started and trimmed the lead to three (40-37), the teams traded scores for the next couple of minutes. ETBU hit a big three-pointer with just over six minutes left in the quarter, but O'Rourke answered with a three of her own just over a minute later, then Winans made it a one-point game just seconds after coming in off the bench. ETBU scored five straight of its own, though, and the lead was back to six heading towards the final three minutes. The Tigers kept fighting and a pair of free throws from Winans made it a one-possession game again at 50-48 with 2:09 left. The teams combined for just one more field goal the rest of the way and it came from ETBU to take a 54-49 lead into the final quarter.

Trinity missed its first six shots and added two turnovers to start the fourth quarter and East Texas Baptist took advantage of the drought. It took more than four minutes for Trinity to get on the board, but East Texas Baptist had built a 62-49 lead by that time. Sauvageau's jump shot was the only made field goal until the final seconds for Trinity as ETBU finished with a 21-7 scoring margin in the period to put the game away. The Tigers didn't score again until Minter's free throws with 2:40 to play, but Trinity still trailed 68-53 after the foul shots. The lead grew to 21 in the closing moments, but Even had the final field goal of the game to finish off the scoring.

Coach Speak
"The preseason has been like lifting heavy for a full set," began Head Coach Cameron Hill. "When you go to war with the weight, that last rep is what we call a rip rep. The rep tears the muscle so it can grow stronger together. You have to be willing to go deep enough into the set to get to the rep that beats you. It's earned. So too is the result that follows. Today was our rip rep. Even in defeat we will grow together. Stronger. ONWARD."

Up Next
Trinity will begin Southern Athletic Association play this weekend, hosting Southwestern University (TX) on Saturday, January 3, at 4:00 p.m.