By Noah Johnson
The Tiger women traveled to Texas this past weekend to take on the Southwestern University Pirates and the Texas Lutheran University Bulldogs. The team lost both games by 10-point margins. However, team morale is still incredibly high, as the Tigers snatched the third seed for the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference tournament this coming weekend. Coach Katherine Menendez stated that the team is “focused on doing what [they] need to get done this week to prepare.”
The Tigers took on the Southwestern Pirates on Friday, Feb. 21, falling 64-73. Colorado College’s starters got into some foul trouble in the third quarter, leading to a large Southwestern lead. The Tigers were, however, able to chip away at the lead with 17 points from Tedy Reed ’23, making this her fourth game this season with double-digit numbers.
“It was a good shooting night, but we got into some foul trouble which put us at a bit of a disadvantage,” said Reed.
On Saturday, the women took on the TLU Bulldogs, with a 67-73 loss. The game was close throughout, with the score at 67-68 with six minutes left to play. Unfortunately, the Tigers were unable to match TLU’s free-throw shooting and the Bulldogs pulled away in the final minutes to win the game. Mckenzee Gertz ’21 posted a game high 24 points and 11 rebounds for her 12th double double of the season. Izzy Hensley ’22 continued her good form by posting 13 points, making double-digits for a third time in the past five games.
Due to Trinity University’s victory over Schreiner University that same weekend, the Tigers claimed the third place seed for the tournament and now all eyes are on their rematch against Southwestern this Friday, Feb. 28.
Coach Menendez is “very confident about the rematch.” She believed that in both losses this weekend there were “bright spots,” and the team will return to doing what they do best this weekend: “out-rebounding and running the floor on defense.”
“We are excited. They got the edge on us last time, but we will make sure it was a one-time thing,” said Reed.
This season, the Tigers were able to achieve their best record in 10 years, with an impressive 14-11 overall record. This feat is truly remarkable considering the small roster of only 12 players who have been plagued by the serious injury troubles throughout the majority of this season.
“We are resilient and any individual can and has stepped up on any given night, especially the big games,” said Coach Menendez.
With the tournament this weekend, the Tigers will need to win out to earn an automatic bid into the NCAA tournament.
“We are preparing to play a lot of basketball,” said Coach Menendez.
The Tigers will take on Southwestern this Friday, Feb. 28, in the quarterfinals of the SCAC tournament. The tournament is single elimination, so if all goes according to plan, the Tigers will play again on both Saturday and Sunday.