IRVING, Texas - No. 17/18 Trinity University Women's Basketball cruised to a 73-42 victory on the road at University of Dallas Sunday afternoon to record the sixth undefeated Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference campaign in league history.
Junior forward Ashlyn Milton (Amarillo, Texas / Amarillo) set a new mark for made three-pointers in a season in program history in the effort as she entered the contest in a tie with Murphy Burns '13 at 62 threes made. Milton's new record stands at 64 for the 2021-22 campaign.
The Tigers (23-2, 16-0 SCAC) posted back-to-back 20-plus point quarters in the first half of Sunday's road contest, including a 24-9 first-quarter tally that put the game out of reach early on.
Junior guard Maggie Shipley (Arlington, Va. / Yorktown) posted 18 points to lead the Trinity offense, 10 of which came in the first half. Shipley also led the way with five assists and four steals to go with four rebounds.
Recent CoSIDA Academic All-District selection senior center/forward Hailey Coleman (Kansas City, Mo. / St. Teresa's) controlled the glass with seven rebounds, closely followed by six boards for junior guard Emily Nelson (Sugar Land, Texas / Saint Agnes)
No. 17/18 Trinity Women's Basketball will carry its top seed into the 2022 SCAC Championship tournament in Sherman, Texas next weekend where it will take its first-round bye and await the victor of fourth-seed Schreiner University and fifth-seed host Austin College.
The Rundown
Sunday's contest started in back-and-forth fashion up to a modest 11-9 lead for Trinity roughly four minutes in. The second bucket for sophomore guard Maggie Robbins (Plano, Texas / Plano) on the next possession started a 22-0 run that withstood two media timeouts and the end of the first quarter.
Milton's record-breaking three-ball came as the other bookend to the Tigers' seemingly unstoppable run at a 33-9 advantage just 12-and-a-half minutes into the contest. By that time, Coleman had already recorded seven of her eventual nine points, alongside eight of Shipley's game-high 18.
Trinity never let the margin dip back below 20 points the rest of the way and reached its first 30-point margin at 52-22 on another Shipley layup, courtesy of one of her own four steals before the midway media stoppage of the third quarter. The Tigers reached their largest lead of 36 points just over a minute later as Shipley reached her final point total to cap a 14-0 run.
The margin dipped to 26 points late in the fourth but a pair of Nelson free throws and Milton's second three of the game returned the Tigers to the final margin of 31 points.
Another Notable Number
Less than two weeks removed from Coleman's 10-for-10 performance in the record-setting 122-75 victory over Schreiner University, Shipley posted a nine-of-10 mark for the third 90-plus percent shooting performance on at least 10 attempts in Trinity history.
Up Next
The 2022 SCAC Championship tournament begins Friday (Feb. 25) on the campus of Austin College. No. 17/18 Trinity Women's Basketball awaits the Schreiner-Austin victor for a semifinal bout on Saturday (Feb. 26)
The NCAA III Women's Basketball National Championship selection show will be live streamed on NCAA.com on Monday, February 28. The final site of the 2022 NCAA III Women's Basketball championship is the UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.