Grace Edges Taylor Women's Basketball 66-62

Box Score

WINONA LAKE, Ind. – The Trojans jumped out to a huge 15-2 lead over Grace Saturday, but the Lancers were able to regroup and pull away in the final minute of the second half to earn the 66-62 win.

Grace started to turn things around and gain momentum in the opening half, as the Lancers withstood Taylor's early surge to cut the Trojan lead to just two at 29-27 at the half.

The second half was a back-and-forth affair. Grace was able to establish an eight point lead at 54-46 with 8:30 remaining before the Trojans made a push of their own. An Emma Brattain driving layup put Taylor back ahead 60-58 with 3:51 left. Later with Taylor down two points, Brattain sunk two free-throws to tie the game with just under a minute to play.

Micah Pollard scored the go ahead bucket for the Lancers not soon after, and Taylor proceeded to turn the ball over on its next possession and was forced to foul Gabby Bryant, who converted two attempts from the free-throw line to seal the win.

It was Taylor's first game to finish with a single-digit difference, win or lose, since the last time these two teams met on November 25 in Taylor's 56-52 victory on its own hardwood. With the loss, Taylor moves into a tie for fourth place in the Crossroads League standings with Goshen.

Taylor shot 46 percent from the field for the contest and made 15-of-20 from the free-throw line for an efficient outing, but the Trojans were haunted by 18 turnovers. Grace, to its credit, committed just nine of its own and took advantage of Taylor's miscues to outscore the Trojans 26-6 in points-off-turnovers.

"This road game was a tough one to let get away from us," said head coach Kelly Packard. "The value of the basketball proved to be the category that shifted the outcome."

Four Lancers were in double-figure scoring, led by a 19 point, 14 rebound effort from Allison Kauffman. Bryant added 17 points, while Sarah Feasby and Pollard contributed 11 and 10 points respectively.

Taylor was led by 16 points and nine rebounds from Jackie Osenbaugh, and Brattain had a career-high 14 points to go along with seven rebounds, which tied a career-high. Cassidy Wyse chipped in with nine points and seven rebounds while Josie Cobb and Erinn Behn had nine and eight points respectively.

Taylor (13-9, 6-4 CL) will return to its home court for a meeting with No. 7 Saint Francis next Wednesday at 7:00 pm.