CHICAGO, Ill. – Trinity played the conference's co-leaders close in the early moments Tuesday night, but the Trolls were unable to come back from a tough third quarter, falling on the road at Saint Xavier 76-68.

Laila McNeal led the way for Trinity (6-6, 3-4 CCAC), scoring 19 points while shooting 7-for-13 from the floor and pulling down a team-high eight rebounds. Sofia Radice posted 13 points on 5-of-6 shooting, while Destiny Goodwin scored 13 off the bench with seven boards. Katarina Savic reached double figures as well, with 11 points to go with seven rebounds.

Six points apiece from Savic and McNeal led the way for the Trolls in the first quarter, as Trinity and Saint Xavier traded the back and forth throughout the opening period. The Cougars (10-4, 7-1 CCAC) used a 12-0 run to start the second quarter, as Trinity went nearly 12 minutes without a field goal between the first and second periods.

Trinity would battle back in the third, closing the gap to five with a McNeal layup at the 7:31 mark, 36-31. Another tough scoring stretch would allow the Cougars to pull away again however, as the home team took their largest lead of the night near the close of the third, 63-42. The Trolls would respond, scoring 13 unanswered to fight back in the game and cut the lead to single digits, 63-55 with 6:39 remaining. Trinity would get within seven points in the closing minutes but were unable to get any closer as the Cougars ran out the clock.

The Trolls will look to bounce back after the Christmas weekend, when they travel to University Park, Ill. to compete in the Jaguars Winter Classic at Governors State. Trinity will face Goshen (Ind.) on Thursday, December 29, at 1:00 p.m.