BRONX, N.Y. – The Trinity College Women's Basketball team defeated Neumann University, 83-59, in the Championship Game of the 2024 Coaches vs. Cancer Tournament, hosted by CUNY-Lehman Saturday afternoon. The Bantams rise to 9-2 on the season, while the Knights dip to 8-5 overall. Junior Samantha Slofkiss took home tournament Most Valuable Player honors, while sophomore Madi Forman claimed a spot on the All-Tournament Team.
 
The Bantams had three scorers in double figures in the title game, led by sophomore Olivia Vick with a team-high 18 points, four rebounds, two steals and an assist. Forman logged her second double-double of the season with 15 points and a career-high 16 rebounds, while Slofkiss netted 14 points with a season-high nine rebounds. Senior Hannah Marzo and sophomores Avery Marzo and Lucy Palmer each tallied six points and three rebounds, and junior Melissa Whitmore dished out a game-high five assists in the win.
 
Neumann was paced by Lauren Klieber with a game-high 33 points, shooting 13-of-23 from the floor and 5-of-7 from three-point range, with six rebounds. Emily DuPont added 13 points, five rebounds and four assists, while Bri Gautier chipped in six points and six rebounds off the bench.
 
The Bantams controlled the pace to open the game as a three-pointer from junior Theresa Twardosky capped a 13-2 run by Trinity. Slofkiss knocked down back-to-back buckets to hand the Bantams a 17-8 lead after the first quarter.
 
Neumann trimmed the gap to 19-11 behind three points from Klieber, but a pair of jumpers from Vick ignited a 10-2 run to expand the lead to 29-13 with 4:50 on the clock. Slofkiss sandwiched buckets around a triple from Twardosky to push the advantage to 37-17 with 1:46 remaining in the second quarter. Sophomore Kiki Fossbender knocked down consecutive buckets to send Trinity into halftime with a 43-23 lead.
 
The Bantams carried their momentum into the third quarter, executing a 12-3 run out of the break as the lead swelled to 55-26 at the 6:01 mark. The Knights mounted a comeback behind a 20-4 run to close the third quarter, paced by 12 points from Klieber to cut the deficit to 59-46.
 
Trinity halted Neuamnn's comeback efforts with a 12-4 run to kick off the fourth quarter, extending the lead to 71-50 with 7:23 to play. The Bantams held the Knights to nine points over the final seven minutes to secure the 83-59 victory.
 
Trinity dominated the glass, 54-40, the paint, 50-20, and bench points, 38-6, during the contest. The Bantams connected on 35-of-71 (49.3%) from the field, 2-of-14 from three-point range, and 11-of-20 (55%) from the foul line. Neumann shot 21-of-70 (30%) from the floor, 7-of-27 (25.9%) from three-point, and 10-of-14 (71.4%) from the free throw stripe.
 
The Bantams will look to extend their win streak to five games when they host Ithaca College on Friday, January 3^rd at 1:00 p.m.