Taylor Battles No. 9 Marian in Four-Point Loss inside Odle Arena
UPLAND, Ind. – The Taylor University women’s basketball team hung tight with No. 9 Marian (9-2, 4-0 CL) inside Odle Arena on Saturday afternoon but walked off the court with a four-point loss, the scoreboard reading 60-56.
The final three minutes of the first half proved to be the decisive stretch of play throughout the game, with the Trojans losing four turnovers that transformed a one-point Marian lead into a seven-point Taylor deficit at the half.
Taylor played a clean second half, though, committing just two turnovers while outscoring the Knights 31-27. The four-point second half swing for the Trojans, however, was not enough to overcome Marian’s seven-point halftime lead.
Senior, Lauren James, led the way on offense for Taylor, scoring 19 points, seven of which came on a perfect shooting percentage from the free-throw line.
Fellow senior, Kayla Kirtley, contributed six more from the charity stripe on an equally perfect shooting percentage, en route to 11 total points.
Claycee West and Taylor Westgate rounded out the TU scoring leaders, West with nine points, closely followed by Westgate with eight.
The Trojans shot at a 41.7 percent clip in the first quarter, their best quarterly percentage for the game. Marian answered with a first-quarter shooting percentage of 53.3 percent, however, as Taylor trailed 17-13 at the end of the first frame.
Strong play by West energized the Trojans as they cut the Marian lead to one with three minutes to play before half. Unfortunately, the half’s final three-minute stretch of play stymied the Trojan momentum as Taylor turnovers helped nurture a seven-point Marian lead heading into the locker room.
The third quarter presented a series of well-earned gifts for the Trojans, as aggressive offense cultivated nine trips to the free throw line where James and Kirtley capitalized for seven points. The score read 47-42, with Marian on top heading into the fourth.
Two more Kirtley free throws made it a one-point game with 3:05 left to play. The shots went cold for Taylor down the stretch, though, as Marian closed the game on a 5-2 mini run, winning by a score of 60-56.
The Trojans (5-7, 1-4 CL) will be back in action on Wednesday, December 8th, when they begin a three-game stretch of non-league play at Governors State (4-6) at 6:00 pm ET.
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