TU Women’s Hoops Falls to SAU

SPRING ARBOR, Mich. – A fourth-quarter surge from the Taylor women's basketball team was too little, too late in a 73-54 loss at Spring Arbor (10-5, 3-2 CL) Saturday afternoon.

TU's offense struggled throughout the day from beyond the arc and at the charity stripe, where it shot 4-of-18 (22.2 percent) and 10-of-19 (52.6 percent), respectively.

A full-court press from the Cougars kept the Trojans off balance and led, in part, to 24 Taylor turnovers, off which the hosts scored 19 points.

The Purple and Grey found their groove across the final 10-plus minutes, though, outscoring SAU 26-19 to close the game.

That closing stretch featured heavy minutes for McKayah Musselman, who torched the Cougars in the paint on 4-of-4 shooting. The freshman made her presence known on both ends of the court as she finished her night with 11 points, four rebounds, two blocks and a steal.

Musselman played a key role in a spirited defensive effort for TU following a tough first quarter, when Spring Arbor turned defense to offense and got everything it wanted inside to take a 26-13 lead. Fellow freshman forward Kalyn Bunch helped limit the Cougars to just nine second-quarter points with the first two blocks of her career, part of a season-high seven blocked shots by the Trojans collectively.

Whitney Warfel also had two blocks on the night to go with a pair of steals, while Ellie Vermilion was active with two steals that complemented her six rebounds and three assists.

In the scoring column, Warfel led the way with 14 followed by 12 for Ava Henson, who had four rebounds and three assists. Emma Fohl contributed 10 points while tying for a game-high five assists.

Taylor (5-10, 0-5 CL) looks to carry over the positive late-game momentum when it returns to Odle Arena on Wednesday at 5:30 p.m. to host No. 2 Indiana Wesleyan (15-0, 5-0).