Trojans Cruise in Quarterfinals and Advance to Semi’s
UPLAND, Ind. – After establishing an early 10-0 lead, the Taylor women’s basketball team never looked back, defeating Mount Vernon Nazarene (14-16) by a score of 82-70 in the Crossroads League Tournament Quarterfinal game.
Taylor trailed the Cougars by two points for a brief 14 seconds to start the second quarter, but otherwise maintained a lead throughout the remainder of the game. Taylor Westgate and Ariel Dale led the way on offense for the Trojans, as the sophomore forward tallied 18 points in tandem with 17 scored by the junior guard.
After experiencing a bit of rebounding woes in their previous two games, the Trojans recovered by outrebounding the Cougars 41-35. The first half was especially favorable to Taylor in this way, thanks in large part to Kayla Kirtley and her 11 first-half boards. Kirtley, then, finished the game by matching a career-high with 15 total rebounds, while Westgate and Claycee West combined for another 15 more.
Four different scorers put the ball in the basket in the game’s opening minutes, nurturing a 10-0 Trojan lead just over three minutes into the first quarter. The Cougars answered, though, by outscoring Taylor 15-6 to finish the quarter down just one.
Mount Vernon Nazarene promptly knocked down a three to start the second frame, taking its brief two-point advantage before the Trojans responded with a 13-0 run. Westgate and West each contributed four points to that run, while Kirtley added a three-ball and Merideth Deckard snuck in a contested layup.
Taylor finished the second quarter strong, carrying a 12-point lead into the half. Defense was lights out for the Trojans in the first half, as they held the Cougar offense to just 27.0-percent shooting in the game’s first 20 minutes while orchestrating the boards to the tune of a 26-17 first-half rebounding advantage.
The Trojan lead was trimmed to seven by the end of the third quarter, in which the Cougars outscored Taylor 27-22 while shooting 57.1 percent from the floor and 62.5 percent from deep. Taylor managed to score three timely three-balls of its own to hold on to the lead heading into the fourth though.
The final frame set the stage for a series of mini-runs, Taylor going up 11 early before the Cougars made it a six-point game with eight minutes to play. From that point on, however, Taylor controlled the flow of the game, maintaining its lead en route to an 82-70 Crossroads League Tournament Quarterfinal win.
Taylor (15-12) will move on to the semifinals on Friday, February 25th, when the Trojans will take on top-seeded Marian (26-3) at 7:00 pm. Stay tuned to TaylorTrojans.com for more info regarding coverage links for the game.
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