ABILENE, Texas – Hardin-Simmons' Cowgirl basketball team defeated the Trinity Tigers 84-62 in the second round of the NCAA Division III Championship Tournament at the Mabee Athletic Complex on Saturday night to advance to the Sweet 16.
 
The Cowgirls were dead even with the Tigers 12-12 after one quarter. Hardin-Simmons manufactured a 19-point lead in the second quarter alone, outscoring Trinity 27-8 to get to a halftime lead of 39-20 over the Tigers.
 
Paris Kiser and Samantha Tatum each had a pair of 3-pointers in the second quarter, along with makes from Parris Parmer and Aiken Semones from deep.
 
Trinity would get as close as 11 points behind the Cowgirls in the third, but HSU quickly retained the big lead and didn't relent in the final quarter, finishing the NCAA win 84-62 for the Cowgirls.
 
This is the first time the Cowgirls have reached the NCAA Sweet 16 since 2006 when the team traveled all the way to the Final Four. This is also the first time HSU has defeated Trinity out of four attempts in the NCAA postseason.
 
The first time the Cowgirls and the Tigers met in the NCAA tournament was in 2003, when No. 1 HSU was upset 67-61 by the Tigers. In her final game playing for the Cowgirls, Kendra Anderson had 33 points and 11 rebounds. As a player, she led the Cowgirls to four NCAA Sweet 16's.
 
Twenty-one years later, head coach Kendra Whitehead has won two ASC Championships and faced the Trinity Tigers in the NCAA tournament for three years in a row. After tonight's win 84-62 over Trinity, coach Whitehead will be leading Hardin-Simmons into the Sweet 16 once again.
 
The Cowgirls were led in the win over Trinity by their outstanding senior class once again. Kiser scored 19 points with four 3-pointers. Samantha Tatum hit four 3-pointers for 16 points for the Cowgirls.
 
Parris Parmer scored 18 points and had eight rebounds and five assists. In the win, Parmer became the fifth Cowgirl to ever score 1,500 points in her career and got to do it in the Mabee Athletic Complex.
 
Anna Fanelli had seven assists and tied the team lead with eight rebounds in the win. Kynnan Shields scored ten points in ten minutes with eight rebounds. Savannah Bennett also grabbed a team-lead eight boards.
 
The Cowgirls advance with a record of 26-3 and will play NYU in the NCAA Sweet 16 next weekend with more information on the time and place to come soon.
 
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