No. 25 Trojans' Comeback Bid Falls Short

Winona Lake, Ind.-The Taylor women's basketball team dropped its third straight game on Tuesday night, falling to Grace 73-62 in Crossroads League action.

After trailing by 15 at the halftime break, Taylor mounted a furious comeback that saw the Trojans tie the game on two occasions with under five minutes remaining but the Lancers managed to close the game on 9-0 run to seal the victory.

A slow start proved costly for the 25^th-ranked Trojans as Grace jumped out to an early 16-6 lead thanks to hot shooting from the Lancers' Gabby Bryant and Juaneice Jackson and cruised to a 43-28 halftime advantage.

Grace (13-5, 4-2) connected on 7 of 10 3-pointers in the opening stanza and shot 55.6 percent (15-27) from the floor while Taylor managed to hit 12 of 32 (37.5 percent) from the field and 3 of 8 (37.5 percent) from beyond the arc.

In the second half the Trojans managed to find their offensive rhythm thanks to the frontcourt duo of Shayna Wood and Erin Guarneri, who combined for 16 second half points. Guarneri led Taylor with 14 points and nine rebounds while Wood added 13 points and six boards on the night.

Junior guard Kelci Freds also played a big role in the second-half charge as the Warsaw, Ind., native connected on two 3-pointers and added a field goal and a free throw, scoring all nine of her points in the second half.

The Trojans closed the large halftime deficit fairly quickly. After two free throws from the Lancers' Bryant made it 45-28 in the opening minutes of the second half Freds and Guarneri promptly knocked down back-to-back 3-pointers to trim the lead to 45-34. The Trojans got the lead to single digits on a free throw from Tess Rudolph with 15:21 remaining and a 3-pointer by Guarneri followed by a free throw then a basket by Freds to cut the Grace lead to 51-46 with 11:42 to play.

After a basket by Grace Erika Redweik scored on consecutive trips and Wood added put-back basket to trim the lead to one with 8:49 remaining.

Taylor (13-5, 2-4) would tie the game twice but the Trojans were never able to claim the lead before Grace closed the game out.

Juaniece Jackson led the Lancers with career-high 37 points while Allison Kauffman added 11 points and a game-high ten rebounds.

The Trojans forced Grace into 16 miscues but suffered 24 turnovers of their own. Grace also had a clear advantage at the foul line where the Lancers went 20-for-28 while Taylor connected on just 9 of 12.

Taylor shot 34.8 percent (23-66) from the floor and 33.3 percent (7-21) from the 3-point line for the game. Grace cooled off significantly in the second half, hitting just 8 of 30 (26.7 percent) from the floor after halftime but the Lancers still managed to shoot 40.4 percent (23-57) from the field for the game.

Taylor will look to get back on track on Thursday when the Trojans host top-ranked Indiana Wesleyan at 7:00 pm.