The Bookstore Basketball women’s tournament came to a close Sunday evening as team Roll Tribe defeated team Harden the Paint by a score of 21-5. Roll Tribe, comprised of Killian Mountford, Addison Quinn, Grace Quinn, Natalie Vellutini and Melissa Lechlitner, controlled the game from the outset and, ironically, kept Harden the Paint from having any success down low.
“It’s a tradition unlike any other at Notre Dame, so it’s great to be a part of it,” freshman Addison Quinn said.
Mountford, a sophomore, echoed her teammate’s sentiment.
“Yeah, out here it’s amazing and it was very fun,” Mountford said. “I had a great time and I’m glad we won.”
Roll Tribe scored the first three points of the game before Harden the Paint’s junior Leesa Greenwood hit a deep shot from beyond the arc to get her team on the board. However, that shot was not a sign of things to come. While dominating down low defensively, Roll Tribe managed to do what so many teams in the tournament have struggled to do: hit jumpers outdoors.
Roll Tribe established their presence with the in-between game, scoring consistently on mid-range and paint jump shots. Grace Quinn was a key player in the first half, nailing three mid-range jumpers and leading her team in scoring through the first period. Addison Quinn joked about her team’s preparedness for the contest.
“We showed up at 5:30 [p.m.] to start practicing, so yeah, we had a walk through. It was kind of intense,” Quinn said. “One of our players was running down all of the bookstore courts to get ready, so we came to play. We were mentally and physically prepared.”
Roll Tribe went on a 5-0 run to build an 8-1 lead before finishing the first half up 11-2. Addison and her sister Grace quite literally formed a pair of twin towers, as the identical siblings deterred Harden the Paint from taking virtually any shots down low in the first half.
In the second half, Harden the Paint had a better start, scoring the first two points of the half. However, they simply couldn’t break out of their cold streak. Luckily for them, Roll Tribe experienced their own cold spell to start the second half. That was soon broken though thanks to the play of Lechlitner, a two-time captain for Notre Dame women’s basketball who graduated in 2010 and currently serves as the regional program director of athletic advancement. Grace Quinn also added that Lechlitner’s competitive spirit came out with her team struggling.
“She was getting angry,” Grace Quinn said.
Lechlitner carried her team in the second half with six points in the period. With her team at 20 points and the defense pressuring her, Lechlitner took over. She created space from her defender, dribbled behind her back and between her legs, then drove forward before stepping back behind the arc for an open shot that she swished to win the championship.
Lechlitner’s play was crucial to the team’s victory according to her teammates. Addison Quinn noted her importance to the team extends beyond scoring.
“She’s a natural leader,” Quinn said.
Roll Tribe said they picked their name because all but one of them played for St. Joseph High School, nicknamed the Indians, in South Bend.
“We won the state championship our junior year, Killian’s senior year, so we thought we would try and win another tournament and we did,” Grace Quinn said.
The team also said that, growing up in Indiana, a “basketball state,” the sport means more to them than a lot of people. Sunday’s win is just another badge of honor for this team of locals.
