Photo by Riley Zayas/True To The Cru
ABILENE, Texas–With less than five minutes left in the third quarter of Friday’s first round NCAA Tournament matchup against Trinity, everything seemed to be going right for the UMHB women’s basketball team. From the forced turnovers on the defensive end, to the fast-break points, to the 3-pointers from Lauren Baker and Jaycie Brisco, the Crusaders were in control, leading 58-45.
But in strikingly similar fashion to the first meeting between the two programs in the Nov. 11 season opener, Trinity had more left in the tank. Plenty more, as it turned out.
Through an up-tempo full-court press, the Tigers wasted no time pulling back within striking distance. Quickly, the UMHB lead evaporated. Trinity cut the deficit to two by the end of the third quarter, ending the period on a 16-5 run, and while UMHB surged back ahead, scoring six of the fourth quarter’s first eight points, it did not last.
The Tigers ended UMHB’s fourth NCAA Tournament appearance in the opening round, as the Crusaders soon fell quiet on the offensive end, and Trinity took charge. Trinity emerged with a 75-71 victory inside the Mabee Complex, and moves on to face Hardin-Simmons in Saturday’s second-round matchup. UMHB, who won 20 games for just the fifth time in program history, sees its 2023-24 campaign conclude in Abilene, with a 21-7 overall record.
“I felt like we had it,” UMHB head coach Katie Novak-Lenoir commented, reflecting back on the turn of events in the second half.
Most in the gym at that point likely would have agreed. As UMHB forced Trinity in bad passes, traveling calls, and miscues, the Crusaders kicked their offense into high gear. With 8:42 left in the third quarter, Maggie Robbins tied the score at 40 apiece with a 3-pointer for Trinity. Then came a Brisco layup for UMHB, followed by a pair of steals on the defensive end which resulted in fast-break scores for Arieona Rosborough in both instances.
The scoring run happened in just under four minutes, and The Crusaders, who had not lost in the first round of the tournament in any of their previous three appearances, seemed well on their way to both a victory and revenge over Trinity. After all, it was the Tigers who, in the season-opener, erased UMHB’s 10-point fourth quarter lead with a 36-16 spurt en route to an 84-74 win. It was clear The Cru desperately wanted to avoid a similar fate on Friday night, especially in a must-win environment, yet it turned out that way all the same.
“It was similar, in some ways, to the first time we played them,” Novak-Lenoir said, her voice somewhat quiet after leading her squad through an intense 40-minute battle. “We just couldn’t hang onto that lead. I thought there were a lot of things we did well. We probably let [Trinity] get comfortable playing how they’re comfortable playing a little too much.”
That included Trinity rolling out its full-court press in an extremely effective way, speeding UMHB up as the Crusaders tried to move the ball upcourt. Instead of going vertical to get the ball past halfcourt, UMHB was forced into moving laterally as the Tigers trapped the ballhandler time and time again. It led to errant passes as a sense of panic set in, and with that approach, Trinity clawed its way back into the fight.
“We were out of options,” Trinity head coach Cameron Hill noted postgame. “They were killing us. They were making every single play. When you work on things throughout the season, you feel like at least they have a frame of reference to it. We had gone away from our full-court press for the majority of this year.
“But as fate would have it, when we needed it, it showed up big for us tonight. It changed the momentum of the game in a way that allowed us to get our feet beneath us again. I think it really helped us with our offense as well.”
UMHB turned the ball over nine times in the second half in large part due to Trinity’s defensive intensity. Not only did it negate the Crusaders’ ability to push the ball with pace as frequently, but it also added another level of intensity to the on-court play itself. Trinity deserves a significant amount of credit for its adjustments, but the Crusaders also took responsibility for the approach to the press when asked about it postgame.
“I think it was honestly just us,” Rosborough, who had 19 points, said postgame. “We weren’t taking care of the ball and we weren’t doing what we did in the first half.”
Novak-Lenoir concurred.
“As the game started getting on the line, we panicked more than we needed to and should. Even when we had a lead, I felt like we started to panic a little bit more. So it’s something, again, for the returners next year that we’ve got to work on and get better at.”
A tightly-contested first half ended with the score knotted at 34-34. Neither side had much separation, with 11 lead changes taking place over the first two quarters. Even the amount of time both teams led was nearly equal, with the Tigers holding a lead for eight minutes, 14 seconds, compared to UMHB’s seven minutes, 35 seconds.
Offensive rebounding was one of the aspects that kept the Crusaders in that spot through the first half especially, as UMHB’s 15 second-chance points stemmed from 14 offensive boards. Not only did the Crusaders extend possessions at a high rate, but they also took advantage of those additional offensive opportunities.
“I think that’s a positive,” Novak-Lenoir said when asked about it postgame. “Now, we’re getting the first part of it, [but] we’re not converting as much as I think we should be off of it. So that’s going to be a big point of emphasis for next year. The want to rebound on that end is huge, and we have some really good things there.”
The focus does shift to next season, and the returning group that can ideally build off of what was a difficult and frustrating loss on Friday night. Novak-Lenoir posted the most wins of any first-year head coach in program history this season, and while the team graduates three of its starters from the tournament game—Ashley Faux, Alexis Carmosino, and Jayden Widener—along with Baker and Gigi Waddell, there is a solid returning core for the 2024-25 season. That includes Josie Bruder, who was 5-of-8 from the field against Trinity, Brisco, who tallied a 16-point, 12-rebound double-double, and Rosborough, the team’s leading scorer.
The last five months were a learning process, for both Novak-Lenoir and the players themselves. It took time, and there were flaws, undoubtedly, that revealed themselves. So the question becomes how to take what was learned in this 28-game campaign, and apply it moving into next season.
“We have to continue to find our identity as a team, and as a program,” Novak-Lenoir said when asked what she learned from this year. “I was constantly learning the different strengths and weaknesses of our team throughout the entire year.
“I brought a couple players in, but most of [the players] were brand-new to me. Even if I coached against a few of them years ago, we’re teaching a new system offensively and defensively. Some of that just takes time.
“I’m excited to just be able to start having more of a foundation of knowing the expectations and bringing in some people that I think are going to help us on the inside, and help us shoot the 3 a little bit better. I think there’s a lot of room for improvement. There were a lot of question marks for a while, and learning a new system takes a lot of time. So credit to the team for adjusting and adapting and still having a heck of a season.”
And from an opponent’s point of view, Hill was complementary of the product UMHB put on the floor. In his 12th year leading Trinity’s program, and one of the winning Division III women’s head coaches in the last decade, Hill pointed out the challenge of going up against The Cru.
“That’s a really good basketball team and they do a lot of really cool things,” Hill said. “Katie is going to get them better every single year. To be where they’re at in her first year here is remarkable.”
UMHB stat leaders
Points: Arieona Rosborough (19), Jaycie Brisco (16), Josie Bruder (11)
Rebounds: Jaycie Brisco (12), Arieona Rosborough (11), Ashley Faux (5)
Assists: Arieona Rosborough (3), Josie Bruder (2), Lauren Baker (2), Alexis Carmosino (2)
| Box Score | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | Final |
| Trinity (23-5, 15-1 SCAC) | 20 | 14 | 24 | 17 | 75 |
| UMHB (21-7, 12-4 ASC) | 19 | 15 | 26 | 11 | 71 |
