Westgate Climbs Career Scoring Ladder in Fast-Paced Loss to IWU

MARION, Ind. – The Taylor women's basketball team (10-15, 5-10 CL) shot the ball at an efficient, season-best 50.0 percent clip Wednesday evening, but it was not enough to overcome the offensive pace of No. 4-ranked Indiana Wesleyan (23-2, 14-2) in a 99-76 loss on the road.

The Trojans found themselves down 15-4 after five minutes expired with the Wildcats' press and defensive traps causing trouble, but TU regrouped following a timeout and found its transition offense to close the quarter still trailing by 11, 27-16.

IWU opened the second period on a 17-7 run before Taylor settled in on both ends of the court to close the half with a 10-7 spurt to make it 50-33, Wildcats.

Kacey Ott was instrumental in helping the Trojans get out in transition with five rebounds, a steal and four points in 11 minutes off the bench. Taylor Westgate and Jillian Osswald scored eight points apiece in the first half, with Osswald boasting four assists in the game's initial 20 minutes.

Hope Custer was aggressive throughout the third quarter in which the senior tallied eight points, and Ott helped cut the deficit to 16 with another two quick baskets upon re-entering the game, but IWU's offense picked up late in the period to take a 78-55 advantage into the final quarter.

TU outscored Indiana Wesleyan 21-17 through eight minutes of fourth period action behind 12 fourth-quarter points from Westgate, but the Wildcats wrapped up the win despite the Trojans' best efforts.

Westgate closed her night with 20 points on 9-of-13 shooting while adding eight boards and two blocks. The 20-point effort moved the senior into a tie for 13th all-time among TU's career scoring leaders with 1,364 points.

Custer and Osswald each scored 16 and dished out a combined 11 assists, with Custer tying her career-high mark of six dimes and Osswald connecting on multiple three-pointers for the 12th game in a row. Osswald is shooting 33-of-66 (50.0 percent) from deep over that dozen-game span.  Ott contributed season-highs with 11 points and six rebounds on perfect 4-of-4 accuracy from the field.

The ball movement was excellent throughout the night for TU leading to 18 assists and a multitude of easy baskets down low, but IWU's own efficiency and ability to create 23 turnovers was costly for the visitors.

Taylor returns to Odle Arena for its penultimate home game of the season against Goshen (9-16, 4-11 CL) on Saturday at 1 p.m.