#RV Bulldogs Drop Trinity, 78-71

SEGUIN, Texas -- The #RV Texas Lutheran women's basketball team downed rival Trinity, 78-71, on Friday night inside a packed Memorial Gymnasium. With the win, head coach Troy Patterson picks up his first career win over Trinity, marking the Bulldogs first win over the Tigers since 2019.

Texas Lutheran improves to 16-3 overall and 10-1 in SCAC play. The 10-1 start is the best start to SCAC play in program history.

Junior Angelina Sotelo (San Marcos/San Marcos) led the Bulldogs in scoring with 19 points, including a perfect 4-for-4 from the free throw line, in addition to five assists. Senior Kailee Mulkey (New Braunfels/New Braunfels) followed with 17 points, four rebounds, six assists, and six steals while also going a perfect 4-for-4 from the line. Following her performance on Friday, Mulkey moves into tenth all-time in career points and is now one steal away from becoming just the third Bulldog in program history to tally 200 career steals, joining Savannah Hight (208) and Chantel Mize (251). Sarahi Jones (Los Fresnos/Los Fresnos) contributed her third double-double of the season with 14 points, 13 rebounds, and five assists while freshman Zaria Solis (Burnet/Burnet) added ten points and a career-high seven rebounds off the bench for the Bulldogs.

In the first quarter, Texas Lutheran came out strong putting up 23 points compared to the Tigers' ten. The Bulldogs capitalized behind the arc, sinking three threes and dominating the boards with 11 rebounds. Mulkey led the charge with two threes, tallying ten points. Defensively, Texas Lutheran held Trinity to just 23.1 percent shooting and forced five turnovers.

TLU maintained its rhythm in the second quarter, adding 15 points. The Bulldogs grabbed 11 rebounds, with Jones pulling down five of her own. Elexis Morado (Kingsville/Santa Gertrudis Academy) and Emerald St. Laurent (The Woodlands/Oak Ridge) led the Bulldogs with five and four points respectively. Texas Lutheran carried a 38-26 lead into the locker room.

Trinity continued to mount their comeback attempt in the second half, outscoring the Bulldogs 20-16. Callista Perez (San Antonio/Stevens) kept the TLU offense afloat with six points and four rebounds in the period.

The fourth quarter proved to be a shootout as the two teams combined for 49 points as the Bulldogs were able to keep the highly touted Tigers offense at bay. Angelina Sotelo closed it out for TLU scoring 10 of her 19 points in the fourth with Mulkey adding seven of her own before fouling out. Sotelo would make four clutch free throws in the final 35 seconds to seal the game as TLU led for over 37 minutes in Friday night's contest.

Up next, TLU wraps their final homestand of the 2024-25 season on Saturday, February 8, as the Schreiner Mountaineers travel to Seguin. Tip-off is set for 4 PM. The game will be streamed on TLU+. Saturday will also act as Senior Night as the Bulldogs honor their class of seven seniors prior to tip-off. All streaming and live stats links will be available on tlubulldogs.com.