Women's basketball clinches top seed in regionals with win at Highland

Linarys Burnett-Romero's and Trinity Barnes' clutch shots fended off a late Highland Community College comeback attempt as the Triton College women's basketball team clinched the top seed in the Region 4 tournament in an 80-66 victory February 4 in Freeport.

Now 18-5 overall and 5-0 in Region 4 Division I play, Triton's Valentine's Day home matchup with Malcolm X College will now only be for pride and a chance to finish regional Division I play undefeated.

The Trojans, winners of six straight, bent a bit, but never broke as five players scored at least 10 points or more to cancel out Cougars forward Talena Rogers' season-high of 27 points and seven rebounds.

A 13-point Triton lead was trimmed to four at one point. With the Trojans up 70-64 with two minutes to go is when Burnett-Romero nailed a three-pointer for more breathing room. A half-minute later, Barnes' driving layup and free throw cinched the game.

"Highland is always a good team, and knows how to move the ball," Burnett-Romero said. "We'll take those shots when needed. You always have to be ready when the times comes."

"It felt good," Burnett-Romero added. "We had a lot of great pieces. When we swing the ball around, it frees up a lot of people."

Barnes led the Trojans with 17 points and nine rebounds. Burnett-Romero had 15 points and four steals. Monraia Wilson and Queen Baker each totaled 13 points. Jalyn Jimenez had 10 points. Baker and Dana Walcott each had eight rebounds, while Wilson and Destine Lovett each had a team-pacing five assists.

If the Trojans have to settle for relatively close wins on the road, interim coach Drew Winston will be happy.

"I'll take it anyway," he said. "We have balanced scoring. The players' talents are interchangeable, so it makes it easy."

"They're a good team, they're well coached," Winston said of Highland. "At this point in the season nothing catches us by surprise."

Well, maybe Rogers a little bit in Freeport. Averaging just five points per game, Rogers was eight for 12 from the field and found her way to the free-throw line, making 11 of 15 attempts

Triton led straight through from the middle of the first quarter. But the Cougars gamely cut the lead and hung in there until the final two minutes.

And that's when the Trojans buckled down defensively. They did not hold the Cougars to 50 points, a very tasty outcome usually for Triton. But they prove they can stop opponents under pressure.

"We realize our best games when we're locked in defensively," said Burnett-Romero.

While amassing another great regular-season record, Winston believes the Trojans can reach another level to be postseason-ready.

"We're not playing out best ball yet, we're not yet at our maximum," he said. "But I like the direction we're trending."

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(Story by tritonathletics.com contributor George Castle)