Trinity caps seventh straight 20-win season with SCAC title

Tigers to enter SCAC Tournament as top seed

SAN ANTONIO, Texas – In their regular season finale, the Trinity women's basketball team rolled past the University of Dallas 94-60. It was the program's 21st win this season, helping to clinch the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference title.

The Tigers have been there and done that.

This is the fourth straight year that Trinity has topped the SCAC regular season standings, and it's their seventh straight season finishing with 20 or more wins -- a program best.

But what makes this season's success all the more impressive is that they've done it with a predominantly young team. Rachel Chavez is the only four-year senior on the roster, while teammate Jackie Layng is the only other senior. All told, 12 of the team's 16 players are either freshmen (8) or sophomores (4), and that youth's development has paid quick dividends.

"We have been working really hard this year," Chavez said. "It's been kind of an adjustment with only three upperclassmen being our captains. I think we've adjusted really well. We always have high expectations for the way we play. Underclassmen or not, we always expect to have a great season and this year is no different."

"With how young we are, the focal point of the season was just to take it one game at a time," said head coach Cameron Hill. "We learn from everything -- the good, the bad and the ugly -- and to their credit, the girls have absolutely embraced that idea and they've learned every single step of the way. I feel great about the way we're playing right now and it's definitely been a worthwhile journey." 

Chavez will graduate this season as the program's all-time winningest player -- prior to the start of conference tournament play, the Tigers are a staggering 94-13 during her time on the team. That's not the only milestone set this season -- junior Abby Holland, the team's leading scorer, poured in a single-game school-record 43 points in Trinity's 85-48 victory over Schreiner on Tuesday.

"I definitely didn't do that alone," Holland explained. "My teammates and coaches all contributed so that I could score the points that I scored. At the end of the day, the points were written next to my name, but it was ultimately a huge team effort."

With the regular season in the rear-view mirror, the Tigers now ride a six-game winning streak into the SCAC Tournament and enter as the top seed -- they've won 16 of their last 17 games. All of Trinity's goals are well within reach, and thanks to their veteran leadership, they know exactly how to handle themselves at this time of year.

"We've played in the championship every single season, so we know what this process feels like," Hill said. "Right now, we're just focused on continued improvement and clean basketball on both sides of the ball. We want to make sure we're communicating, executing what we know we're capable of doing, moving the ball, taking great shots and putting great defensive possessions together."

"I think we're all really confident, cool and collected, and I think we're all really excited for what's next," Holland explained. "There's not a lot of pressure because we're confident in ourselves. We definitely have high expectations and we definitely do a lot, but we do take things one step at a time. Ultimately there are end goals, and hopefully we'll be in the National Championship winning the title."

Trinity will host either Southwestern University or Colorado College in the SCAC semifinals this Saturday at noon in Seguin.