Westgate Ups Career-High as Trojans Win by 22 in Home-Opener
UPLAND, Ind. – The Taylor University women’s basketball team defeated Brescia (1-4) by a score of 83-61, as Taylor Westgate posted a career-high 25 points and 11 rebounds in Taylor’s 2021-2022 home-opener on Veterans Day.
The Trojans have struggled with turnovers thus far in the season, but tonight marked a hopeful move in a better direction as Taylor limited its turnovers to 14 while scoring 25 points off of Brescia miscues.
Not only was the Trojan ball-security sharp tonight, but the Taylor ball-movement was also, scoring 31 total buckets on 21 assists. Lauren James led the way for Taylor in that regard, dishing out eight assists in addition to her 17 points.
James sparked the Trojan offense in the opening frame of the game, scoring six points while setting up Ariel Dale for six points of her own from the three-point line.
The Trojans only coughed the ball up twice in the first quarter, while forcing six Bearcat turnovers en route to a 19-13 lead heading into the second frame.
Taylor posted 28 points in the second quarter on 50-percent shooting from the floor and a perfect 100 percent from the charity stripe thanks to six made free-throws by James. Westgate contributed six points of her own in the second quarter, giving her eight at the half before a monster 17-point second half.
Three-pointers and turnovers framed the first-half narrative, as Taylor shot 8-19 from deep with only six turnovers while Brescia shot a mere 2-11 from three with 11 turnovers in the first 20 minutes of the game.
The Trojans led 47-33 at half.
Brescia and Taylor each scored 18 points in the third quarter, maintaining the 14-point Taylor lead heading into the fourth. Westgate knocked in an additional six points, while Gretchen Moll added four off the bench.
The Trojan offense slowed in the third quarter, mostly due to a lull in shooting efficiency as Taylor shot a mere 20 percent from both three-point land and the free-throw line. Still, the lead remained at 14.
Westgate took over in the final frame, scoring 11 points while collecting seven rebounds. Dale hit another three, her fourth of the game, while the Bearcats shot 0-3 from deep as the Trojans finished the game with an 83-61 victory.
All in all, Westgate posted a career-high 25 points, 11 rebounds, and three steals on 11-19 shooting. James followed the sophomore forward with 17 points, 15 of which were scored in the first half.
Dale scored the team’s third-highest mark with 12 points on four three-pointers, a new career-high for both points and made three-pointers in a single game.
Westgate, James, and Dale will look to build on their performance as Taylor returns to action tomorrow evening, November 12th, when the Trojans take on Miami-Middletown (0-2) at 6:00 pm inside Odle Arena.
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