HARTFORD, Conn. – The Trinity College Women's Basketball team overcame a 17-point halftime deficit to defeat visiting The College of New Jersey, 79-73, in the 2025-26 season opener at Ray Oosting Gymnasium Friday night. The Bantams begin with a 1-0 record, while the Lions dip to 0-2 on the season.
 
What Happened:

• The Lions jumped on the Bantams early, racing to an 18-5 advantage behind four three-pointers, including a trio from Amanda Blaylock.
• Trailing 25-13 after the first quarter, Trinity used an 8-4 run to trim the deficit to 29-21 midway through the second.
• TCNJ closed the first half on a 13-4 run to hold a 42-25 lead at the break.
• Trailing 46-25 with 8:32 left in the third quarter, the Bantams began their comeback effort as Kiki Fossbender netted nine points to help close the gap to 50-38.
• Another bucket from Fossbender was followed by a nine-point effort from Avery Marzo over the final minutes of the frame to set the score at 57-51 heading to the final quarter.
• Baskets from Marzo, Marlo Simms and Melissa Whitmore pulled the Bantams within two points, 59-57, with 8:20 to play.
• The sides exchanged buckets until back-to-back jumpers from Simms gave Trinity their first lead of the game, 67-66, at the 4:47 mark.
• Marzo, Fossbender and Simms combined to score the next ten points to help the Bantams fend off the Lions and secure the 79-73 win.

 
Inside the Numbers:

• The Bantams shot 43.9% (29-of-66) from the field, including 2-of-13 (15.4%) from three-point range, and 19-of-25 (76%) from the foul line.
• The Lions connected on 26-of-68 (38.2%) attempts from the floor, 10-of-36 (27.8%) from beyond the arc, and 11-of-18 (61.1%) from the charity stripe.
• Trinity dominated the glass, outrebounding the Lions, 53-26, while controlling the paint (46-28), and bench points (33-14).
• Marzo powered the Bantams off the bench with her first career double-double, registering a career-high 25 points, shooting 8-of-11 from the field and 8-of-8 from the foul line, with a career-high ten rebounds.
• Simms logged her first career double-double with a career-high 15 points and a career-high 13 rebounds, while Fossbender netted a career-high 18 points with three rebounds.
• Whitmore tallied six points with nine rebounds and four assists, Lucy Palmer added three points, four assists and three rebounds, and Alex Carbonaro recorded four points, four rebounds and a block in her collegiate debut.
• Blaylock paced the Lions with a game-high 27 points, connecting on 6-of-14 three-point attempts, with five assists and four rebounds.
• Katie Fricker chipped in 17 points and seven rebounds, while Maddie Bernhardt and Grace Kowalski added seven points and three rebounds each.

 
Thoughts from Coach Williamson:

• "In the first half, we struggled to get into our rhythm. We're usually a really good rebounding team, and we weren't rebounding well. We didn't finish at the rim, and we had a hard time defending. At the half, we locked in on specific actions and switched things up defensively to give ourselves some confidence. The biggest thing was that we attacked and finished at the rim [in the second half]. It took everyone tonight and we finally embraced that. We had three players with huge double-figure efforts and two double-doubles. Our message has been that we are versatile and dynamic, and in the second half, once Avery started going, the rest of the team realized they could do this. Brockport will play completely different tomorrow. We'll see a lot of full court press and zone, so hopefully we can maintain our pose, rebound well and we'll take care of it."

 
Up Next:

• The Bantams will be back in action when they host SUNY-Brockport (1-1) at Ray Oosting Gymnasium on Saturday, November 15 at 3:00 p.m.
• This will be the first-ever meeting between the Bantams and the visiting Golden Eagles.