SAN ANTONIO, Texas - The UT Dallas magical postseason run ended with a 79-62 loss at #4/5 Trinity (Texas) in the First Round of the NCAA Division III Women's Basketball Championship at the Bell Center Friday night.

The Comets (19-10), who won their fifth American Southwest Conference title last week, staged a furious second-half rally after trailing by 19 points at the half (27-28), but came up just short of pulling the upset. The Comets outscored TU 22-10 in the third quarter, while shooting 53.3 percent (8-for-15), to cut the deficit to just seven points - 57-50 - going into the final period.

The Tigers held off the Comets' comeback with a 22-12 fourth quarter, to advance to the next round against Hardin-Simmons on Saturday.

The first-round matchup marked the return of first-year UTD coaches Joe Shotland and Jackie Laynge to the Trinity campus. Both played collegiately for the Tigers, and Shotland was an assistant coach for Trinity for five years prior to taking over the UTD program this season.

UTD shot 42.3 percent (22-for-52) from the field, 2-for-9 from three-point range and 16-for-20 at the free throw line. They also had 34 rebounds, eight assists, three steals and 25 turnovers.

Trinity shot 44.1 percent (26-of-59) overall, 5-for-22 from outside and 22-for-29 at the stripe to go with 32 boards, 14 assists, one block, 15 steals and 15 turnovers. 

UT Dallas Notes
- Joe Shotland was the winningest first-year head coach in program history.
- Sophomore guard Cierra Trigg led UTD with 15 points, going 5-for-7 from the field and 5-for-5 at the line.
- Sophomore Trystan Clark added 13 points and a steal off the bench.
- Senior guard Jordan Maxwell had nine points and a career-high nine rebounds.
- Junior Blythe Williams had nine points, five rebounds, two assists and a steal and was 4-for-5 shooting.
- Forward Diane Hurst chipped in seven points.
- It was the final game for four UTD seniors - Maxwell, Hurst, Maddie Edler and Lauren Fulenwider.

Trinity Notes
- Five Tigers scored in double digits, led by Maggie Shipley's 18 points, to go with three steals and five assists.
- Maggie Robbins had 17 points, eight rebounds, five assists and nine steals.
- Addison Putnam scored 11 points with six boards and Ashlyn Milton had 10 points and six rebounds.
- Claire Hale had 10 points off the bench.