Trinity vs Augsburg 12-15-18

Another Saturday and another trip over to Si Melby Hall on the campus of Augsburg University for this incredibly intriguing and interesting non-conference clash between visiting Trinity (Texas) out of the SCAC and host Augsburg.  I had seen the Tigers in action back in 2017 when they came up to UST for an NCAA Sweet 16 regional pod and Head Coach Cam Hill has built a solid program in San Antonio that competes for conference titles and NCAA Tournament appearances.  The Auggies are attempting to get to that same plateau and so far anyway, they're off to a good start with a 9-1 overall record and 4-0 in the MIAC.  So this game in some ways would have something of an NCAA Tournament "feel" to it and good experience for both sides.

Trinity would draw first blood in this contest at the 8:47 mark of the first period when junior forward Abby Holland connected with a lay-up but the Auggies would respond with a 10-0 run to open up a lead.  Junior forward Camryn Speese got into the paint for one score to tie the game at the 7:22 mark and a Speese drive and finish at the 7:00 mark had Augsburg in front 4-2.  Fellow junior guard Tamira McLemore snared a steal and whizzed the other way for a lay-up at the 6:40 mark and senior guard Camille McCoy's lay-up at the 5:59 mark now had the Auggies up 8-2.  Speese capped this early run with a lay-up at the 5:28 mark before the Tigers could get back on the board on a lay-up by sophomore guard Emily Daniel with 4:24 left.  Still, Augsburg maintained the edge as sophomore reserve forward Jazmyn Solseth knocked down a jumper from the left top area just inside the arc with 3:14 left and a McLemore jumper from the left wing area with 1:42 left had the Auggies in good shape up 14-6.  Tiger freshman reserve forward/post Kelly Simmons narrowed things up a bit with her lay-up with 1:04 left but then Trinity got a big lift when freshman reserve forward Abbey Wilson drained a "3" from the top of the key with :20 left in the opening period that had the Tigers right back in the thick of things down 14-11.

Augsburg stretched things out again when junior reserve sharpshooting guard Aiza Wilson banged home her first trey of the game from the left top area at the 9:44 mark of the second period and an offensive rebound and tip-in by the athletic Speese at the 8:55 mark kept the Auggies ahead by six at 19-13.  The Tigers, however, would slowly close in on this gap as freshman reserve guard Sam Henry connected with a lay-up after a steal in the backcourt at the 8:29 mark and two Henry freebies at the 7:35 mark got Trinity back to within a single possession down 20-17.  Then it was a jumper from the left wing by Daniel at the 6:48 mark that cut the deficit to a single point at 20-19 and one free throw by Holland at the 5:58 mark had this one tied at 20-all.  Augsburg managed to poke their nose out in front again when freshman reserve forward Jen Masello connected with a lay-up with 4:01 left but the Tigers took the lead when sophomore guard Julia Ackerman banged home a "3' from the left wing area with 3:40 left in the second period to make it a 23-22 ballgame.  The Auggies took the lead back on a Solseth jumper from the right elbow area with 3:09 left but Trinity responded with another three-point bomb - again from Ackerman from the right wing area with 2:56 left to give the Tigers the lead back at 26-24.  Augsburg, however, managed to steady the ship and they closed out the second period on an 8-1 push.  Solseth's jumper from the right elbow area with 2:19 left tied the game at 26 and an Aiza Wilson "3" from the left corner with 1:19 left pushed the Auggies back out in front by a 29-27 count.  Then up-and-coming freshman reserve guard Selena Lor came up big with her "3" from the left corner with :28 left that gave Augsburg a renewed sense of confidence as the teams headed to the locker room with the Auggies up 32-27.  A check of the first half box score reveals that neither team was necessarily setting the world on fire with their shooting.  Trinity went 10-24 from FG range for 41.7% and was 3-9 from three-point land for 33.3%.  Augsburg was 14-34 from FG range for 41.2% and 3-10 from downtown for for 30%.  One area where the Auggies did have a sizable advantage thus far was on the boards by a 21-15 count.  And both teams showed their ability to create turnovers as Trinity was guilty of 12 and Augsburg was guilty of 10.

The Auggies tried to establish more breathing room in the opening moments of the third period as Speese connected with a short shot off the glass at the 9:48 mark for a 34-27 lead but Trinity had no plans to go away anytime soon.  Holland made a hard drive into the lane for a finish at the 8:57 mark and a pretty pull-up jumper in the lane in transition by Daniel at the 6:20 mark had the deficit down to four points at 35-31.  A Daniel jumper from the right wing area at the 5:56 mark had the deficit down to two points at 35-33 and a Holland lay-up at the 5:11 mark kept the Tigers in that two-point range down 37-35.  And Trinity's Hill had made some adjustments on defense as well as they were now in a 2-3 "match-up" zone in hopes of clogging up the middle and forcing the Auggies to beat them from the perimeter.  A Daniel jumper from the right elbow area with 4:18 left tied the game at 37 before Augsburg could forge ahead again on a "3" from the right wing area by junior guard Ari Jones with 3:28 left.  The Tigers, however, answered this call as sophomore guard Jordan Rudd nailed a "3" of her own from the right wing area with 1:50 left that had this game tied at 40.  Trinity's Abbey Wilson put her team back out in front with her three-point bomb from the left corner with 1:03 left but the Auggies answered this call when Aiza Wilson drilled one of her trademark three-point bombs from the right top area with :23 left to make it 43-all and given the back-and-forth nature that this one had at the moment, there was a lot of uncertainty swirling around Si Melby Hall.

Perhaps it was the feeling that the wind might have gone out of the Auggies' sail during the third period but even I wasn't sure.  In any event, Trinity rose to the challenge in the opening moments of the fourth period.  Abbey Wilson drained one of her lefty three-point bombs from the left corner at the 9:36 mark and a steal and lay-up the other way by Henry at the 7:51 mark suddenly had the Tigers up 48-43.  Augsburg managed to get things tied up again as McLemore connected with a lay-up in transition at the 6:39 mark and was fouled in the process and her ensuing "and one" at the 6:39 mark cut the deficit down to two points at 48-46.  Two free throws by junior guard Keazha Wubben after she was fouled in another transition opportunity after a steal at the 6:24 mark knotted this one at 48 and a McLemore lay-up in transition at the 5:37 mark helped the Auggies poke their nose back into the lead at 50-48 and although McLemore would miss out on two free throw opportunities at the 5:24 mark, Augsburg was in the bonus so, presumably anyway, things were looking good for the home team at this point.  The Tigers, however, had vastly different ideas and didn't want to return to San Antonio empty-handed.  A pretty reverse lay-up by Holland with 4:40 left helped spark a key 8-0 Trinity run that turned this game around.  One Holland free throw with 4:00 left pushed Trinity ahead 51-50 and a short turnaround jumper by Holland with 2:40 left got the lead to three at 53-50.  From an Auggie perspective, that wasn't quite so bad but when Tiger senior guard Rachel Chavez buried a "3" from the right corner with 2:04 left that suddenly pushed the lead to six at 56-50, Augsburg Head Coach Ted Riverso knew his squad was now in the danger zone and he quickly called a timeout in hopes of getting them out of it.  The Auggies did indeed give themselves a chance in the last two minutes.  Wubben made a hard drive into the lane for a finish with 1:57 left and McLemore lifted the spirits of the Auggie faithful when she made a daring steal and dashed the other way for a lay-up and drew a foul in the process and her ensuing "and one" with 1:08 left now had the deficit down to just two points at 57-55.  Riverso would call another timeout to set up stratetgy and when Trinity came up empty on their next possession, Augsburg now had their chance.  But with :12 left, an Aiza Wilson three-point attempt missed its mark and the Tigers' Ackerman grabbed the defensive rebound.  The Auggies' Riverso would call another timeout but were now forced to foul.  Trinity's Henry would get sent to the charity stripe with :08.6 left and she cashed in on both free throw attempts.  The Tigers' Hill would call a timeout to set up defensive strategy but that proved unnecessary when Augsburg promptly turned the ball over on their next possession and Trinity picked up an important 59-55 non-conference victory. 

I managed to catch up with Trinity's Hill afterward as I had first met him at the 2017 NCAA Regional Pod over at UST.  He was very happy with the win as you can imagine and feels like his squad has a great chance to do some big things this season including returning to the NCAA Tournament.  Augsburg Assistant Coach Jackie Voigt; although disappointed with the outcome, tried to be upbeat and thought that maybe the Auggies lost some focus down the stretch.  I don't think this latest setback hurts them that much in the big picture but there are some things they need to shore up; particularly on the defensive end.  When you look at the final box score, you can tell that Trinity definitely picked things up with their shooting as they finished 22-49 from FG range for 44.9% and three-point shooting went up as they finished 7-18 for 38.9%.  Augsburg meanwhile slumped as they finished 22-60 for 36.7% and 5-22 from downtown for 22.7%  Missed free throws were a bit of the problem for the Auggies as well on this day.  Holland led the way for Trinity on this day with her 12 points and she was very instrumental when the Tigers made their key run.  Daniel finished with 10 points for the Tigers.  Both McLemore and Speese finished with 12 points to lead the Auggie attack on this day.