SAN ANTONIO – The Trinity University women's basketball team opened up its Southern Athletic Association weekend at home with a 77-71 win over Oglethorpe University (GA) on Friday night in Calgaard Gymnasium.

The Tigers improved to 6-7 overall and 2-0 in the SAA, while the Stormy Petrels dropped to 9-4 overall and 1-1 in conference play. Trinity's defense held its guests to just 30.2% shooting overall and 15.0% (3-for-20) from three-point range. Meanwhile, Trinity shot better than 48% from the field and just over 30% from beyond the arc. The Tigers had a slim 38-34 halftime lead that grew to a 21-point margin in the fourth quarter.

Livy Sauvageau (Houston, Texas / Second Baptist) overcame a slow start to finish with a team-best 21 points for the Tigers, hitting four three-pointers to go with a team-leading four steals and five assists. Kylie Minter (League City, Texas / Clear Springs) added 15 points on 7-of-12 shooting and pulled down four rebounds. Skye O'Rourke (Austin, Texas / Vandegrift) had one of her best games of the year with 15 points on a perfect 7-of-7 shooting. She also tied for the team lead with five rebounds and five assists. Natalie Greenwood (Roanoke, Texas / Byron Nelson) added eight points and five boards, while Ivory Scott (Waco, Texas / Waco) chipped in with seven points along with four rebounds and a pair of steals.

The Rundown
Trinity fell behind early as Oglethorpe scored twice in the first 90 seconds to take a 4-0 lead, but the Tigers tied things up just over a minute later. Minter hit back-to-back shots to put Trinity in front for good at 9-6 with 6:23 left in the first quarter. Scott and Greenwood followed with their second baskets of the night and the lead grew to 13-6 on the 9-0 run. The Petrels pulled within two shortly after but got no closer. The Tiger lead was still six heading into the final two minutes, when Oglethorpe made 3-of-4 at the line to close the quarter and cut the deficit in half at 17-14.

The second quarter began with another score from Oglethorpe to trim the lead to one, but Greenwood dropped in a layup that was followed by an and-one three-point play from Sauvageau to quickly reclaim the six-point advantage just over a minute into the period. The Petrels answered to drop the lead to four, but O'Rourke scored five straight Tiger points in a span of 12 seconds to give her team a nine-point cushion. The teams traded scores after that and Minter hit a shot with 1:16 left to make it a 38-31 lead. Oglethorpe once again closed the quarter with 3-of-4 free throws and the lead was down to 38-34 heading into the break.

The third quarter wound up with Trinity outscoring Oglethorpe 21-11 but most of the damage by the Tigers came in the final minutes. The Petrels drew within three early, but O'Rourke answered with another layup on the next Tiger possession, then she scored again to make it a seven-point game. The lead was still seven after an Oglethorpe basket with under four left in the quarter, but Trinity scored nine straight points to push the margin to 59-43 with under a minute to go. Oglethorpe broke up the run with the final score of the quarter, but Trinity held a 14-point lead heading into the final 10 minutes of the game.

The final quarter picked up where it left off as Trinity scored six straight points to take a 65-45 lead after just under two minutes. O'Rourke scored two more layups to start things off, then Sauvageau nailed a shot of her own at the 8:17 mark. The Petrels scored seven unanswered points of their own after that, cutting the lead to 13 with 6:29 to play. Minter hit a pair of shots to fuel six straight Tiger points over the next 90 seconds, though, and the lead was back to 19 at the midway point of the period. Oglethorpe fought back again with two more scores when Sauvageau nailed back-to-back three pointers to make it a 77-56 game with under three minutes left. After Oglethorpe missed its next shot, the Tigers went to the bench for the final two minutes. The Petrels scored the game's final 15 points at the foul line to account for the final score at 77-71.

Coach Speak
"Tonight reminded me of the last race in Ford vs. Ferrari," opened Head Coach Cameron Hill. "Ken Miles had driven a near perfect race. Had the win and the records in his pocket. Then the Ford Motor Company decided to ask him to slow down. So he did. History will read this was a six-point win, just like history will read that Ken Miles didn't win Le Mans that day. But we all know the truth and the truth matters. Good for Oglethorpe for fighting the fight. And good for Ford for getting their photo. But maybe next time we won't slow down. ONWARD!"

Up Next
Trinity will continue its SAA weekend by hosting Berry College (GA) at 12:00 p.m. on Sunday, January 11.