Taylor Drops CL Opener to Saint Francis

Taylor Drops CL Opener to Saint Francis
November 18, 2023

UPLAND, Ind. – The Taylor women's basketball team (3-6, 0-1 CL) dropped its Crossroads League opener 68-41 to Saint Francis (7-1, 1-0) on Saturday afternoon inside Odle Arena.

Cold shooting prevented the Trojans from finding a rhythm throughout a decisive opening 20 minutes of play, with USF taking a 34-14 lead into the halftime break. Saint Francis kept Taylor cold through most of the third quarter, and the visitors had a commanding 58-24 lead with one quarter remaining.

TU was able to get some offense flowing late to complement an overall solid defensive effort, as the Trojans outscored the Cougars by nine points in the final 14 minutes of game time.

Taylor Westgate was a big reason for the late offensive output, scoring nine points in the fourth quarter to finish with a team-high 14 in the game. The forward also added eight rebounds and two blocks to her stat line to lead the Trojans in both categories. Jillian Osswald contributed 12 points and a team-high three assists in the game.

Defensively, Taylor held the Cougars to just 25-66 (37.9 percent) shooting, including 6-30 (20.0 percent) from deep, but USF crashed the glass on its missed shots with 15 offensive rebounds leading to 16 second chance points. The Trojans did win the turnover battle, however, committing only 11 while forcing 15 on the day.

TU is back in action on Tuesday at Mount Vernon Nazarene (5-1, 0-1 CL). Tipoff is slated for 6 p.m.