A rarity happened on the court in Saturday's game when two teammates both scored 20 or more points as TCJ Eagles Women's Basketball defeated the Blazers of USCAA Beacon College. One more Eagle hit double figures, and Trinity won the game 81-51. All 8 available players saw at least 15 minutes of action and scored 4 or more points in the win.

Emma Parrish led the Eagles with 21 points in 29 minutes. Parrish was 7 for 17 from the field, including a pair of threes, and 5 for 5 at the line. She scored 11 of her 21 points in the first quarter; she added 9 assists. Also in 29 minutes, Caroline Smith was 9 for 11 from the field and added two free throws to compile 20. The duo of seniors combined for 51% of the Eagles' points, and Smith tied Travesha Giddens for the team lead in rebounds with 7. 

Giddens did her share of scoring, too: 10 points on 3 baskets and 4 foul shots in 4 attempts -- all in just 15 minutes of work. 

Midway through the first quarter, the score remained close with Trinity leading 6-4. Trinity, who never trailed and took the lead for good only 1:04 into the game, then began to pull away on points from Giddens, Parrish, and Alexandra Perez to complete a 17-9 run that gave the Eagles a 23-13 lead at the quarter's end. Smith scored 8 of her points (all inside the paint) in the second quarter.

That same second quarter saw Beacon's Maya Lopez scored 13. Lopez had 6 in the first to give her 19 at halftime, already surpassing her season average of 17.4. Lopez would add 9 more in the third (7 for 7 at the line) and 1 in the fourth to finish with the game high 29 points. She was 12 for 14 overall at the line and 8 for 17 with a three from the field in scoring 57% of her team's points. She added 6 rebounds.

Trinity's defense, however, held all other Blazers to single digits. The Eagles forced 29 turonvers (3 shot clock violations and 2 five-second inbound violations), stole 17 possessions, and blocked 2 shots (both by Desiree Greene). 

Trinity led 45-30 at halftime then shot 47% in the third quarter and 78% in the fourth to build an insurmountable lead. 

Kirsten Joseph had 9 points and 6 assists for the Eagles while Greene scored 7 (3 baskets, 1 a three-pointer), Perez totaled 6, and Victoria Broadway and Laila Harvey each contributed 4. Harvey also assisted 4 other scores. 

Beacon's Hiba Naceri scored 8 points and pulled in 10 rebounds, and Kaite Kolaxis scored 7 in helping to lead the Blazers. 

The Eagles will play the next three at home, two against South Region opponents. First, NCCAA Division 1's Paine College comes to town for a 7:00 p.m. tip-off on Monday, January 26. Then, the Eagles will battle Southeastern Baptist College on January 31 and Pensacola Christian College on February 3.