TU Women's Basketball Downs IU East in Opener

Photo Gallery

UPLAND, Ind. – The Trojans were off and running Saturday afternoon in their season opener, winning 94-62 over Indiana University East inside of Odle Arena.

"Probably the most impressive thing today for me was our fitness, it was tremendous" said second-year head coach Kelly Packard. "We ran like crazy, got a lot of easy points, and had a high field-goal percentage."

The Trojans shot 57 percent from the field despite shooting 1-9 from beyond the three-point line, doing most of their damage from inside the paint. Taylor had a whopping 62 points from inside the lane compared to just 32 for IU East.

24 Taylor points came from fast break opportunities, as the Trojans often were able to force turnovers and push the ball up the court. Indiana University East, in the program's first ever women's basketball game, did not handle Taylor's pressure well and turned the ball over 26 times.

"Defensively we've grown up so much in regards to our off-ball positioning," added Packard. "We created a lot of turnovers today, and I think we showed big leaps of improvement with our man-to-man defense from last year."

The Red Wolves finished the game with a respectable 62 points but shot at just a 34 percent clip from the field, 4-21 from beyond the three-point line.

Taylor was able to outrebound IU East 42 to 32, with both teams tracking down 12 offensive rebounds to create second chance opportunities.

Kayla Shaffer and Tia King paced the Red Wolf offense with 17 and 11 points, respectively.

Freshman Cassidy Wyse led Taylor with 22 points in her debut, going 9-11 from the field. Wyse also added seven rebounds and five steals to pace the Trojans.

Taylor had a very balanced attack in its season opener, with five players scoring in double figures. Freshman Megan Richardson, senior Sara Waid, and senior Erinn Behn each had 14 points, while junior Jackie Osenbaugh nearly had a double-double in 15 minutes played with 12 points and nine rebounds. Junior point guard Emma Brattain also added six points to go along with five assists and three steals.

"The freshmen needed this first game at home," said Packard. "They all played well today. Also, Emma Brattain showed some tremendous growth from last year to this year, as did Sara Waid. Last year we played six out of our first seven games on the road. Knowing that a lot of freshmen would be playing this year, I think we can get some confidence from this headed into the IWU Classic next weekend."

Taylor women's basketball will now begin to prepare for the Indiana Wesleyan Classic, looking to build upon its dominant opening performance. Starting on Friday, November 7, the Trojans will hit the hardwood in Marion with No. 12 Cardinal Stritch at 8:00 pm. On Saturday, November 8, Taylor will meet the University of Saint Francis (IL) in a 1:00 pm tip.