HARTFORD, Conn. - The Trinity College Bantams blew past the SUNY Cortland Red Dragons in the third quarter and held on in the fourth for a 64-59 victory in the second round of the NCAA Division III Women's Basketball Championship Tournament on Ogrodnik Court at Oosting Gymnasium this evening.  No. 16-ranked Trinity, which downed Notre Dame (Md.), 58-43, yesterday for its first NCAA win since 1995, advances to the Round of Sixteen for the first time in program history while improving to 24-5, its highest-ever win total.  The Red Dragons end the year at 24-5.  Junior center Reilly Campbell (Wallingford, Conn.) paced the Bantams statistically with 19 points and 11 rebounds, recording her 20th double-double of the season.  The Bantams will face the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater in the next round.

"There are no words to describe the resilience of this team," said Trinity Head Coach Emily Garner. "They are tough, they believe, and they work incredibly hard for each other. I'm so proud of how they continue to push each other to be the best versions of themselves. A huge shout out to Bantam nation for packing the coop and bringing the noise tonight!"

The Bantams trailed, 31-28, at halftime but went on a 10-0 run to take a 40-33 lead with 4:24 left in the third quarter.  After a two-plus minute scoring drought for both teams, Trinity junior Emma Wax (Pine Brook, N.J.) hit a short jumper followed one of four three-pointers in the game by classmate Tori Varsamis (Belmont, Mass.).  Wax drove the basket moments later for an old-fashioned three-point play and scored again on a fast break to finish with seven of the 10 points during the run.  Sarah Tully finally scored for the Red Dragons to end their 7:26 scoring drought with 1:21 left in the third frame.  Campbell scored four points in the final 1:04 before the last break to give the Bantams a 44-37 lead entering the fourth quarter.

"I felt like we just settled in and executed our defensive game plan coming out of halftime," Garner added.  "We got big stops in big moments and refocused on our box outs. The defensive energy fed our offense, and some of the shots that rimmed out in the first half started to fall. I am so proud of how the team locked in and fought together."

 

Trinity led, 48-39 after two more Campbell baskets early in the final stanza, but Cortland rallied to make it, 53-50, on a trey by senior forward Nyia Longford with 6:27 on the clock.  The game remained tight as Campbell and Wax matched Cortland's guard Emily Morano basket-for-basket, as the Red Dragon senior scored all six of her team's points after the 5:15 mark.  Campbell scored on the baseline with two minutes remaining for a 62-57 Bantam lead, but Morano scored after a Trinity shot clock violation to pull Cortland to within a possession at 62-59 with 19 seconds left.  Campbell made one of two free throws, while Trinity senior forward Frankie Silva (Auburndale, Mass.) corralled the rebound off a three-point try by Longford and made another free throw with two seconds left.

Cortland had led, 17-14, after one quarter, receiving seven points off the bench by Longford, while Varsamis kept the Bantams close with two treys off the Trinity pine.  Varsamis struck again from the left corner to give Trinity its last advantage of the first half at 25-24 with 3:05 on the clock but Tully answered on a put-back for the Red Dragons.  Bantam sophomore guard Indi DelRocco (Branford, Conn.) tied the game at 27-27 with 2:30 remaining in the second quarter, but Cortland made three free throws late before rookie guard Maya Carnes (Baltimore, Md.) ended the first half with a Trinity foul shot to make it, 31-28, in the visitors' favor at intermission.  Both defenses were stout early, as both Trinity and Cortland shot under 35 percent from the floor in the first half.  Both squads also went deep into their bench with 23 total players entering the game before halftime.

Campbell was 8-for-9 from the floor to finish as one of four Bantams in double digits in scoring.  Wax added 13 points to go with five rebounds and game-high six assists, while Varsamis scored 12 points on 4-for-7 shooting from distance.  DelRocco had 10 points and Silva contributed all seven of her points after halftime and grabbed eight boards with three assists.   Morano had a team-high 19 points and four assists, while Longford registered 16 points and seven rebounds for Cortland.  Tully added seven points, nine boards, and three blocks and Julie Siler made four steals for the Red Dragons.  Trinity shot 54.2 percent from the field in the second half and held the Red Dragons to 36.4 percent from the floor over the same time.