Trump settles cases, he does not deny that. Specifically in this case he said he will not settle, that he would rather give the money to the lawyers. He has done this several times, that is fought a charge where he could have settled cheaper. He has won most of them.
Historically the person or organization that wins civil cases are the ones that have the most money to bully the opposition with lawyers. Exactly what he has done on this university fiasco whether he was right or wrong.
Too bad the gal does not have the moxie to stick it out, she could get some positive PR this fall and quite possibly walk away with a sizable settlement.