Soon after the men’s basketball team walked off the court Friday night, the ladies prepared to face their rivals, the Trinity Tigers. Like the men’s, this is also their first SCAC conference season. 

Right after the tip off, Trinity gained possession but missed their first layup. Almost a minute into the game, Pirate #33, Aniyah Burke, made the defensive rebound and threw the ball up the court to her teammate, #0 Ellie Ward. Ward then made a jump shot! Trinity managed to score a three pointer but Ward, who was wide open, responded to the shot by making her own three-pointer shot. It was an eventful start to a game of long-standing rivals. The Pirates remained tight on their defense throughout the first quarter, causing the Tigers to miss shots and make errors. The Pirates continued to score points, staying ahead of the Tigers. By the end of the first quarter, Southwestern came out on top, 20-16. Students and faculty in the stands howled with excitement as the Pirates led the Tigers

After an eventful first quarter, both teams looked tired, but they locked their defense down. This tightening of defense by both teams led to a stalemate. There were no points on the board for either team for 2 and a half minutes, until Trinity’s # 32 Natalie Anderson made her free throw. Although the free throw seemed to change the trajectory of the game, Southwestern’s Burke responded with a jump shot. Both teams took turns scoring throughout the second quarter; with a rivalry this intense, neither pirate nor tiger was backing down. With 2 minutes remaining in the quarter, the Tigers started to come back and hold the Pirates. Ultimately, by the end of the second quarter, Trinity managed to take the lead, 29-30. The crowd was on the edge of their seats; at this point, the stressed out Tiger and Pirate fans knew it was going to be a close game. 

Coming out of the locker room ready to battle, the Pirates took to the courts. The Tigers didn’t wait to strike; the third quarter began with tight defense from the Tigers. Southwestern struggled to score points, while Trinity continued to put distance between them the two teams. Throughout the third quarter, the Pirates slowly found their footing and started putting points up but the Tigers continued to make the point gap larger. By the end of the quarter, Trinity was up by 19 points. Throughout the 4th quarter, the Tigers, with their newfound confidence, led the rest of the match. However, with 3 minutes left, the Pirates found their defense and stopped Trinity’s rampage of points, allowing them to slowly close the gap. At this point in the game, faculty and students alike were biting their nails with angst. This was not an easy game to predict. 

Although the Pirates locked down their defense, Trinity quickly adjusted and put up more points before the game ended. The Lady Pirates may have lost, but they did not go down without a fight. That night, the final score was 55-88. Their overall record is 1-10 and 0-2 conference record.