SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS – Center Alyssa Hammond (Osgood, Ind.) resumed the sparkling start to her senior campaign Saturday, Dec. 20.

Hammond, registering scoring double figures for the seventh time in eight contests, finished six-of-10 shooting from the field and added a four-of-seven effort from the free throw stripe to wind up with 16 points. She also ended only a carom short of a double-double (nine rebounds) and led MU (3-5) in blocked shots (one) to go with three steals. Despite her totals and a 13-point night from junior guard Katie Arterburn (Indianapolis, Ind.), the Black and Gold dropped a 65-53 decision to the host Tigers of Trinity University.

Trinity (6-2) jumped out to an 18-9 lead less than nine minutes in, but Coach Josh Dzurick's squad answered the roll with one of their own, tying the game at 27-27 with 1:41 left. TU used the same formula over the final 20 minutes, opening a 10-point lead midway through (47-37) before the Spartans trimmed it as little as three (49-46) with 6:45 remaining. From that point, the hosts broke away on a game-deciding 16-7 stretch.

Manchester University breaks from competition until Monday, Dec. 29. They take on D3Hoops.com No. 8-ranked St. Thomas University of Minnesota in the first of two semifinal round games of the Carthage College of Wisconsin tournament.

NOTES: Going further into the Black and Gold's numbers, Arterburn drained three treys, senior guard Alyssa Smith (Bluffton, Ind.) took away four steals, and senior guard Jocelyn Hamilton (Columbus, Ind.) dished out three assists. Junior guard Justine Kruger (Francesville, Ind.) turned in eight points, seven rebounds and a pair of steals … Hammond, the team's scoring (11.6 ppg) and rebounding (6.4 rpg) leader, moved over the six-rebound-per-game mark during the Lone Star state visit. She averaged eight and a half per contest during the two-game set to go along with 13.5 points and two steals per outing … Trinity put three of its five starters in double-figure scoring. This was due, in large part, to seven made three-pointers and a 22-of-30 effort at the charity stripe.