FREDERICK, Md.--All five Hood College starters reached double
figures but the Blazers came up short as the Trinity University
Tigers registered an 84-77 victory in an Atlantic Women's Colleges
Conference game Monday evening at Gambrill Gymnasium.
The Blazers end the 2006-07 campaign at 5-18 overall, 4-6 AWCC,
while the Tigers advance to the AWCC tournament and improve to
10-12 overall, 6-4 AWCC.
The first half was a high-scoring affair which saw both teams
shoot over 45% from the floor. Trinity maintained control early
until a three-pointer by senior Dana Shook gave the Blazers their
first lead of the game, 13-12, at the 14:15 mark. But a
conventional three-point play by Trinityýs Lauren Hall gave
the lead back to the Tigers, who would not trail again.
Hood fell behind by as many as 12 in the stanza but slowly
chipped away at the deficit and closed to within two, 34-32, on a
pair of free throws by freshman Jennifer Willison with 2:44
remaining. The Blazers managed just one field goal the rest of the
stanza and trailed 46-37 at intermission.
The Tigers held a double-figure advantage in the opening minutes
of the second half. A layup by Hall gave Trinity its largest lead
of the game, 66-51, midway through the period. The Blazers got
things clicking offensively and trimmed the margin to four on a
jumper by Sara Hartlaub with 4:12 to go in regulation. But Hood got
no closer as the Tigers hit 5-of-8 from the foul line down the
stretch.
Willison paced Hood's torrid scoring attack with 22 points on
7-of-13 shooting, while sophomore Sara Wastler drained four triples
for 14 points.
Sophomore Whitney Schultheis registered 12 points and five
assists and Hartlaub recorded a double-double with 10 points and a
career-high 13 rebounds to go along with four blocks. She finishes
in third place on Hood's single season block chart with 53
rejections in her first collegiate season.
Shook, playing in the final game of her Blazer career, used a
gutsy farewell performance to net 11 points and matched her
career-high with 11 assists.
Hall scored a game-high 23 points while Brandy Boulette came off
the bench to tally 22 points for the victors.
