Trinity International Coasts By Crimson Wave In CCAC Opener

CCSJ-Womens-Basketball-2017Taking a 1-1 record into the start of conference play, head coach Steve Helm and his Calumet College of St. Joseph women's basketball team were trying to get above .500 with a win over Trinity International University. Costly turnovers stopped the Wave from getting any sort of flow to their game, allowing the Trojans to pull away in the second half. TIU would go on to defeat CCSJ 58-39 Wednesday night at the Rittenmeyer Center.

The first quarter showed promise for the young team, leading by as much as seven during the opening 10 minutes. Trinity would storm back quickly however, drawing the teams into a virtual tie. The back and forth battle would continue into the second quarter, with the Crimson and Gray secured the lead once again with 6:36 left before halftime. They'd hold onto that lead until the tail end of the quarter, with TIU taking a four-point lead into the intermission.

The Trojans (2-2, 1-0 CCAC) started pulling away as soon as the ball was inbounded to start the third. The TIU lead was increased to 17 by the start of the final quarter, in large part to the Wave only being able to sink three shots during the third. And the offense didn't come back for the final few minutes either. The only baskets that CCSJ would make in the fourth were seven free throws. TIU didn't score much more on their end, only nine points in the final quarter, but it was enough to easily take the win 58-39.

Statistically for CCSJ (1-2, 0-1 CCAC), Tenayita Sanford led the way with 12 points, while Krystina Barksdale (FR/St. John, Ind.) collected nine rebounds, and Katie Martin (FR/Anderson, Ind.) helped out her teammates with three assists. The team only shot 25.5% from the field for the game, 15.8% from three-point range, and committed 21 turnovers during the 40 minutes of action.

Helm liked what he saw early on but noticed that his players just ran out of juice towards the tail end of the game. "The first half we played really hard, really well. We were executing on offense, allowing us to keep pace with them. In the second half, they took us out of what we like to do, and we didn't make adjustments. The girls simply just ran out of gas in the final 20."

The team will now have only a single day to prepare for one of the best teams in the nation. Saint Xavier University is their next opponent, and will come into Saturday's matchup ranked second in the nation. Tipoff from Chicago is slated for 1:00 pm.

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