GEORGETOWN, Texas -- Texas Lutheran's quest for a second Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference Women's Basketball Tournament Championship in four seasons came up short Sunday afternoon as the No. 8-ranked Trinity Tigers defeated the Bulldogs 78-67.

In Southwestern University's Robertson Center, TLU opened up a 12-point lead with five minutes to play in the second quarter. But Trinity closed out the first half with a 12-2 run and then opened the third quarter on a 14-4 rally.

The Bulldogs had the Trinity lead down to three in the closing seconds of the third quarter before SCAC Tournament Most Valuable Player Allison Staley broke free for a buzzer-beating three-pointer. The shot gave Trinity a 55-49 edge entering the fourth.

Trinity started the fourth with a 7-1 run and extended the advantage later in the quarter to as many as 19 with 2:10 to play.

Trinity won its second consecutive SCAC Championship and improved to 26-1 overall. The Tigers' lone loss of the season came on the road at Texas Lutheran on Jan. 14.

The loss dropped TLU to 21-6 overall. The Bulldogs lost two of three to Trinity, the No. 1 ranked team in the latest NCAA DIII South Region rankings.

TLU was sixth in the latest South rankings and is a contender for an at-large berth to the NCAA DIII Women's Basketball Championships.

The Bulldogs will find out their NCAA fate Monday. The NCAA DIII Selection Show will air on NCAA.com at 1:30 p.m. central (2:30 eastern).

Kristen Lye (San Antonio/Clark) led the Bulldogs on Saturday with 24 points on 10-of-16 shooting. She added six rebounds.

Cierra Jordan (Llano/Llano) added 18 points and five rebounds for the Bulldogs.

Lye and Jordan were named to the SCAC All-Tournament Team. Lye made the team for the third time in four seasons.

Staley led Trinity 17 points and five rebounds. She hit three three-pointers and made six of her 12 shot attempts. Monica Holguin added 13 points and six rebounds.

Grace Horn collected nine points and seven assists.

Trinity out-rebounded TLU by 15, 45-30, and out-shot TLU 46 percent to 39.3 percent. TLU was 6-for-24 from the three-point line.