December 5, 2013
No. 2 Saint Francis Derails Taylor's Upset Bid
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UPLAND, Ind. - The Taylor women's basketball team had an upset on its mind as it clawed and fought No. 2 Saint Francis but ultimately the Cougars used a late surge to knock off the Trojans 84-71.
Taylor (3-6, 0-2) erased a first-half 15-point deficit and took its first lead since the opening minute when sophomore Monica Compton knocked down a baseline jumper with 8:05 left. However, Saint Francis closed the game on an 18-4 run as the Cougars' Skylarr Shurn and Taylor Akyah scored each of the Cougars' final 18 points halt Taylor's upset bid.
"They have a couple of really gifted players and we tried to take away their dominant hand and we were pretty effective with that," Taylor coach Kelly Packard said. "However, Shurn was still really effective down the stretch."
Shurn led all scorers with 34 points while Akyah added 23 for Saint Francis while Taylor was led by senior Becca Daniels' 17 points and nine rebounds while Compton added a career-high 13 and Freds finished with 12 points, including three 3-pointers.
Taylor scored on the opening possession before Saint Francis reeled off a 19-2 run over the next six minutes to take a 19-4 lead at the 14:04 mark in the first half. Senior guard Kelci Freds knocked down a 3-pointer to curb the run as the Trojans began to slowly chip away at the USF advantage. Another Freds triple sliced the Cougar lead to 38-32 with 3:37 remaining in the first stanza and the Trojans matched Saint Francis basket for basket over the closing minutes of the first half to enter halftime trailing 42-36.
The Trojans continued to chip away at the Saint Francis lead after intermission, ultimately erasing the deficit entirely late in the second half before Saint Francis closed with its surge.
Saint Francis (11-0, 2-0) shot 47.6 percent (30-63) from the floor and managed to draw 25 fouls on Taylor that resulted in a 23-for-36 (63.9 percent) performance from the free throw line. Taylor shot 45.8 percent (27-59) from the floor, including 4-for-14 (28.6 percent) from beyond the arc while also connecting on all 13 free throw attempts.
The Trojans won the rebounding battle 37-35 but did give up 15 offensive rebounds to the Cougars who converted those boards into ten second chance points. Saint Francis dominated the paint, outscoring TU 54-38 and also took advantage of 18 Taylor turnovers, converting the miscues in 24 points.
Taylor is home again on Saturday as the Trojans look to pick up their first Crossroads League victory against Marian at 7:00 pm.