Turnovers Hurt Taylor in Loss to No. 2 IWU

UPLAND, Ind. – The Taylor women's basketball team was defeated 96-60 inside Odle Arena on Wednesday evening by rival, second-ranked Indiana Wesleyan (15-1, 6-0 CL).

TU (6-10, 1-5) played the visiting Wildcats relatively evenly through the game's first six minutes, with a Taylor Westgate jumper getting the Trojans within one, 12-11. IWU then went on a 17-4 run to close the first and open the second quarter to take a commanding 29-15 advantage.

Jillian Osswald connected on a triple in each of the first two quarters to give her a game-high 10 points by halftime, but 11 team turnovers from Taylor and hot shooting from Indiana Wesleyan gave the visitors a 47-28 lead at the intermission.

Head coach Cassie Wiseman's halftime adjustments helped the Trojans get easy looks in the third quarter as TU racked up six assists in the frame and outscored the Wildcats 21-19 in the period. The balanced scoring and ball movement was not enough to get Taylor back in the game, however, as IWU took a 66-49 lead into the fourth.

No. 2 Indiana Wesleyan displayed its firepower and depth over the game's closing 10 minutes to come away with the lopsided win.

Osswald was a steady scoring presence all night for the Trojans, and she finished the night tied for a game-high and season-high 19 points. The junior also racked up four assists, two steals and a block in the contest while making multiple three-pointers for the third straight game. Kacey Ott was a key contributor from the second quarter on, as the sophomore forward concluded her night with a season-high nine points on an efficient four-of-five shooting in 17 minutes of action.

Offensively, Westgate had four assists to tie Osswald for the team-high in the game, and Hope Custer and Ava Henson had three and two dimes, respectively to contribute towards TU's 15 total assists on the night.

Though the ball movement for Taylor was good, 22 turnovers led to 29 IWU points, and the Wildcats got everything they wanted inside with 66 points in the paint.

TU will look to end its three-game slide when it travels to face Goshen (8-8, 3-3 CL) on Saturday at 1 p.m.