Women’s basketball starts strong, wins four straight

RYAN MURPHY ’17

SPORTS EDITOR

The women’s basketball team is off to a rocking start to the 2015-2016 season, with a 4-0 record and two tournament victories. The Bantams took down Wellesley and Curry in the Curry College Tip-Off, and beat New Rochelle and Eastern Nazarene to win the Dr. Betty Shabazz Tournament.

In the Curry College Tip-Off the Bantams faced Wellesley College in the first game. Captain Mackenzie Griffin ’16 led the way with ten points and six rebounds, and fellow captain Christina Raiti ’16 added seven points and four assists. All 16 players saw minutes, and the bench played very well scoring 26 of 53 points. Forwards Erin Cunningham ’19 and Courtney Erickson ’19 played very well in their first ever college games, scoring eight and seven points respectively, with Cunningham pulling down team-high 8 rebounds. Trinity beat Wellesley 53-30.

In the finals versus Curry College, the Bantams came out hot, scoring 18 points in each of the first two quarters to take an early 36-25 lead, and ultimately won 62-46. Griffin led the way with a stellar 19 point, 15 rebound performance, adding two assists and two steals as well. Co-captain Melanie Mills ’16 also had a good game with eight points and nine rebounds, five of which came on the offensive glass.

On Nov. 28, Trinity played their first of two games in the Dr. Betty Shabazz Tournament at Medgar Evers against College of New Rochelle. The Bantams scored at least 18 points in every quarter, and held the Blue Angels to single-digit scoring in the first and fourth quarters. Griffin topped her great performance against Curry with another double-double, totaling 27 points, 13 rebounds, and three steals. Menard and Landy found themselves in the starting lineup for the first time this season, and both had excellent performances. Menard notched nine points and six assists, while Landy tallied 15 points, five assists, and three steals. Raiti added ten points of her own and center Emily Llerena ’18 led the bench with six points.

Eastern Nazarene gave the Bantams their hardest challenge of the young season in the finals, holding the Bantams to 13 points or less in the first three quarters and leading by two heading into the fourth. Led by yet another unbelievable performance by Griffin, the Bantams outscored the Lions 18-11 in the fourth quarter to ultimately win 51-45. Griffin scored 29 of Trinity’s 51 and also added a season-high 19 rebounds and two blocks. Landy added six points and seven boards while Menard dished out another 5 assists.

The Bantams already have almost half of the nine wins from the 2014-2015 season and look poised to keep on winning. If Griffin continues to play at this level, she will surely be an All-NESCAC selection and a candidate for player of the year. Trinity’s primary focus, though, is to get back into the NESCAC tournament, which they failed to qualify for last year.