Women’s basketball claims their third tourney title

LIZ CAPORALE ’16

STAFF WRITER

The Trinity Women’s basketball team improved to 6-1 on the season after defeating both Maine-Presque Isle and Norwich last weekend in Northfield, Vermont. With these two victories, the Bantams were able to call themselves champions of the 2015 Ed Hockenbury Classic, their third tournament title of the season. On Thanksgiving weekend the squad traveled up to Medgar Evers for the annual Dr. Betty Shabazz tournament. Trinity advanced to the finals and won, beating New Rochelle handily, 80-46, and later edged out a victory against Eastern Nazarene, 51-45. Going back even further, the Bantams attended the Curry College Tip-Off Tournament to start their season and defeated both Wellesley, 53-30, and Curry, 62-46, to claim their first tournament title of the season.

On Dec. 1, the team suffered their first loss at the hands of Western Connecticut State, 87-68. Mackenzie Griffin ’16 dominated in defeat, scoring 26 points, pulling down 15 rebounds, and dishing out four assists. Alexa Menard ’16 also had a strong performance with nine points and eight assists. The Trinity bench was outscored 38-11, however, which proved to be the difference in the game.

The Bantams quickly bounced back after the loss, though, with an absolute trouncing of Maine-Presque Isle on Dec. 4 in the first round of the Hockenbury Classic. In what is starting to seem like a certainty every game, Griffin led the way with another double-double, 17 points and 11 rebounds. Erin Cunningham ’19 and Emily Llerena ’18 had ten and 12 points off the bench, respectively, combining to shoot 7-8 from the field. All 15 players got to play at least 6 minutes, and the bench totaled 42 points in the 82-21 victory.

In the finals of the tournament, the Bantams outdueled Norwich University in a barn-burner, 65-61. Griffin had 16 points and 12 rebounds while Christina Raiti ’16 led the way with 18 points, six rebounds, and five assists. Courtney Erickson ’19, a six-foot forward, was a significant player off the bench, scoring 11 points and five rebounds in 13 minutes of play. Erica Junquet ’19 also played well in her third start after replacing injured Sheena Landy ’17, with six points, five rebounds, and two assists.

This year’s program boasts four captains. Griffin is a returning starter for the Bantams, and has played in all seven games this season. Last season, Griffin was Trinity’s leading scorer, finishing third in the NESCAC, and is currently averaging nearly 21 points a game. Menard is also a force to be reckoned with this year. A returning starter, Menard led the Bantams in assists last year, was second in three-point shooting and third on the team in scoring, making her a difficult matchup for other teams. Forward Melanie Mills ’16 has also played in all seven games this season for the Bantams and returns to the squad coming off a very successful junior season, in which she was second on the team in blocked shots, and third in both free throws and rebounds. Lastly, Raiti has consistently played for the Bantams throughout her four years, and is a returning starter this year.

Trinity will be back at it on Tuesday, Dec. 8, when they head down to New London to face Mitchell College at 7 pm. Following that, the Bantams will play Gordon at home this Saturday, Dec. 12, at 1 pm before the winter break hiatus.