UPLAND, Ind. – Just hours after the pandemonium of the 25th-annual Silent Night game, the Taylor women's basketball team took the court inside Odle Arena for a matchup with RV Grace.
Though leading for much of the game, the Trojan offense stalled throughout the final seven minutes of action, which paved the way for Grace (9-1, 5-0 CL) to remain undefeated in Crossroads League play with a 71-66 win over Taylor.
With just under seven minutes to play in the fourth, an Ariel Dale two-point basket gave Taylor a 61-58 lead. Grace answered with an 11-2 run, however, which established a 69-63 lead with one minute left on the clock.
At that point, a clutch three-pointer made by Claycee West nurtured a one-possession game, though a pair of Lancer free throws and a scoreless Trojan final minute left Taylor trailing by five points at the final buzzer.
Grace feasted at the charity stripe throughout the day, totaling 22 made free throws in comparison to just five from the Trojans. That 17-point difference largely cancelled an 18-point edge that Taylor worked in the three-point column, while nine second-chance points on 12 Lancer offensive rebounds then helped seal the win for Grace.
Taylor's strongest stretch of play unfolded throughout the opening minutes of the third quarter, when the Trojans scored 11 points in the paint before Dale sunk a three to work a 14-2 Taylor advantage after just four minutes of play in the second half.
Dale's three forced the third Lancer timeout of the game with the Trojans enjoying their largest lead of the day, 44-37. Outside of the timeout, Grace punched back with a 7-0 run to even the score at 44 apiece. From there, scoring went back and forth between Grace and Taylor. That is, until the Trojans grew cold with seven minutes to play in the fourth.
Taylor Westgate played a significant role in Taylor's 14-2 third-quarter burst, which offered just a glimpse into a strong overall performance that finished with a game-high 26 points and seven boards.
West, meanwhile, finished with 16 points on 6-9 shooting from the floor and a 75-percent mark from three-point land. Dale pocketed 12 points of her own, alongside eight rebounds, though no other Trojan surpassed five points in the stat sheet.
Taylor (7-5, 2-3 CL) will now enter a break in competition throughout the holiday season, until the Trojans travel to Florida where they will play Warner (5-4) on December 28 at 4:00 pm.
