Austin College Holds Off Trinity Women's Rally

Sherman, Texas - The Austin College Kangaroos held off a second-half rally to beat the Trinity University Tigers women's basketball team 58-54 Friday night in a Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference game at Hughey Gymnasium.

Trinity now stands at 15-7 and 9-5 SCAC, in third place in the conference West Division. Austin College, which beat Trinity 74-49 on Jan. 2 in Sams Gym, improved to 16-6 and 10-3 SCAC. The Kangaroos are tied with Hendrix for first place in the West Division.

Tiger sophomore guard Ali Marzella of Katy, Texas (Taylor), who scored 12 points, became only the second Trinity player to record 100 career 3-point baskets. She is six 3-pointers away from breaking the Trinity career record. Marzella, who shot 2-5 beyond the arc, also is the only Tiger player to hit 40 or more single-season 3-pointers twice. The 5-foot-8 Marzella also picked up four assists and three steals.

Down 20-31 at halftime, the Tigers were behind by as much as 14 points, 24-38, at 15:48 in the second half. Trinity pulled to within six points, 36-42, at 9:57, when Austin College widened the lead to 11 (47-36, 6:36). A 9-2 rally closed the Tigers to within three, 49-52, with 2:08 left in the game, on a 3-pointer by Marzella. Trinity again tightened the Austin College lead to three points, 54-57, as  Marzella sank her second 3-point shot with 20 seconds left. Amber Stafford of Austin College was fouled, and made one of two free throws.

Sophomore forward Kelsey Goodell of Portland, Ore. (Lincoln), led the Tigers with 15 points, while recording seven rebounds and two steals. Juior guard Danielle Hubenak of San Antonio (Churchill) scored 10 points, and had five rebounds and three assists. First-year guard Anne Waidelich of Floyd, Texas (Bland), produced 11 rebounds, along with six points. Sophomore forward Abby Dietert of Cibolo, Texas, accounted for nine rebounds, four steals, and scored five points.

Katy Williams recorded a double-double with 18 points and 15 rebounds.

The Tigers shot 30 percent from the field, and the Kangaroos hit 37 percent. Austin College led 48-40 in rebounding.

Trinity continues its SCAC road trip Saturday in Colorado Springs, Colo., taking on Colorado College at 6 p.m. Mountain Time. Following the Colorado College game, the Tigers have one more SCAC game, on Feb. 19 at Southwestern in Georgetown, Texas. Trinity has qualified for the eight-team SCAC Tournament Feb. 26-28 at Millsaps College in Jackson, Miss. The tournament winner qualifies for the NCAA Division III playoffs.