Williamstown, Mass. – Junior guards Michelle Royals (Torrington, Conn.) and Kaitlin Ciarleglio (Waterbury, Conn.) combined to score 37 points, leading the Trinity College Bantams to a 60-55 win over the Skidmore College Thoroughbreds in the opening game of the Williams College Classic this evening.  Trinity improves to 5-1 with its fifth win in a row, while the Thoroughbreds drop to 2-3.  Trinity will play Rensselaer in the Classic tomorrow, and Skidmore faces the host Williams Ephs, who downed Renselaer, 58-47, in the other Classic game tonight.

Trinity opened the game with a 22-4 run over the first 12 minutes and held off late Skidmore rallies at the end of both halves.  The Thoroughbreds closed to within six points at 31-25 at the break, but Trinity jumped back ahead by 14 at 45-31 on a jumper by sophomore guard Carly Napier (Pittsford, N.Y.) less than five minutes into the second half.  Skidmore rallied back to within three points three times in the final seven minutes, but Trinity answered with a bucket on its ensuing possession each time including the last on a trey by Royals with 27 seconds remaining to give the Bantams a 59-53 lead.     

Royals was 4-for-10 and Ciarleglio was 3-for-10 from long range, and Trinity held Skidmore to 28.1 percent shooting from the field and to just a pair of three-pointers in 18 attempts.  Bantam senior tri-captain forward Rebecca Cohn (San Francisco, Calif.) pulled down a team-high 14 rebounds, and senior tri-captain guard Kristen Fahey (Cumberland, R.I.) dished out eight assists.  Junior guard Megan Guagler (Amsterdam, N.Y.) had 16 points and 14 boards for the Thoroughbreds.

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