January 11, 2014
Taylor Holds off SAU for Second-Straight Victory
UPLAND, Ind. - The Taylor women's basketball team notched its second home victory in as many days, this time topping Spring Arbor by a 61-50 margin to log back-to-back wins for the first time this season.
The two squads locked up in a fast-paced but sloppy opening half of action, with Taylor and Spring Arbor combining to hit only three-of-22 attempts from beyond the arc and committing a total of 20 turnovers in the opening 20 minutes.
Taylor managed to distance itself from the Cougars with a 14-2 spurt midway through the period to open a 24-10 advantage. The Trojans scored the first nine points of that stretch in the paint and from the free throw line, before Kelsey Bryant hit a three in transition and Taylor Degenkolb connected with a fast-break bucket off a SAU turnover to push the TU lead to 14.
Taylor would take a 31-21 lead to the break, on the strength of a 15-2 edge off the bench, with Degenkolb and Shayna Wood teaming for 13 points.
The second half opened with a three-point make from Spring Arbor to cut the deficit to seven points, but Taylor gradually extended the margin over the next several minutes. A triple from Kelci Freds matched TU's largest lead of the afternoon, before a hoop from Erinn Behn gave Taylor its largest lead at 46-30 with 11:21 left to play.
The lead would remain in double figures until the 7:03 mark when the Cougars (9-8, 3-3 CL) drew to within 48-40 on a pair of free throws. Spring Arbor would continue to narrow the gap over the next several minutes, eventually drawing as close as 53-50 on a three from Jessica Garringer at the 1:56 mark.
The SAU rally would fall short however, as Wood buried a pair of free throws to stop the 20-7 run by the Cougars and Taylor closed the game by hitting each of its last eight attempts from the charity stripe to seal the 61-50 victory.
Taylor never trailed in the contest, leading from wire-to-wire for the second-straight outing to notch its sixth-straight win over the Cougars on the hardwood.
TU outscored Spring Arbor, 25-4, off the bench on the strong play of Degenkolb and Wood. The duo combined for 19 points on seven-of-13 shooting and Wood added seven rebounds, three assists and one steal.
Behn led the offense with 12 points to go with six rebounds, while Bryant registered a double-double with 10 points, 10 rebounds, three steals and three helpers.
Taylor (7-11, 2-4 CL) will host No. 5 Indiana Wesleyan (15-3, 5-1 CL) on Wednesday in a 7:00 pm start inside Odle Arena.