Westgate Posts Career-High in Trojans Big-Time Win at Home
UPLAND, Ind. – In the first game of a Tuesday-night doubleheader inside Odle Arena, the Taylor women’s basketball team defeated Mount Vernon Nazarene (13-11, 7-5) by a score of 97-85. Sophomore forward, Taylor Westgate, pocketed a career-high 27 points along with 16 boards to boost her double-double-mark to 12 on the season.
While Westgate certainly dominated in stretches throughout the game, Taylor as a team shot the ball phenomenally, posting a 52.1-percent field-goal percentage on the night. It’s the second-best mark of the season for the Trojans, as they bookended the game with ridiculous shooting percentages: 64.7 percent in the first and 73.3 percent in the fourth.
The fourth quarter was especially electric, as Taylor answered every potential Cougar-comeback with a bucket of its own. As if to say, ‘anything you can do, I can do better,’ the Trojans matched Mount Vernon’s 25 fourth-quarter points with 25 of their own, solidifying the win after mounting a 12-point advantage in the third.
The sophomore forward and her senior teammate, Kayla Kirtley, were especially pivotal performers in that momentous third quarter, as the Trojan duo combined for 15 of Taylor’s 27 third-quarter points. In tandem with one another, the sophomore-senior pair shot a perfect 7-7 from the free-throw line, while together outrebounding the Cougars nine to eighth in the quarter as the Trojans pulled away.
All that to say, an equally electric first quarter ought not to go unnoticed as Taylor finished the opening frame with a 28-27 lead after senior guard, Lauren James, buried a three at the buzzer. The senior All-American finished the game with 12 points, which puts her at 960 career-points, just 40 away from the monumental 1,000-point milestone.
Moving back to the electricity of the first quarter, though, junior Ariel Dale was one Trojan to set the charge as she bucketed eight points en route to finishing the night with 16. Dale knocked down two particularly significant three’s in the quarter and now boasts the Crossroads League’s second-best three-point percentage of 42.3 percent.
Claycee West was another important contributor to the Trojan offense throughout the night, as the sophomore matched Dale with 16 points while shooting 46.7 percent from the field. Kirtley also finished the night with a 46.7-percent mark, while the senior scored a Trojan second-best 19 points.
Taylor’s 97 team-points is its third-best mark on the season, further evidence of a recent increase in offensive production as the Trojans now average 81.5 points per game in their last six competitions.
Taylor (11-10, 5-4) will soon have a chance to keep the train moving, as the Trojans are set to take on Bethel (9-15, 4-8) inside Odle Arena on Saturday, February 5th, at 1:00 pm.
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