Buchs Drains Clutch Free Throws for Narrow Victory
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UPLAND – Becca Buchs nailed a pair of free throws in the final 30 seconds to break the tie and give the tenth-ranked Trojans their first Crossroads League win of the season, defeating Spring Arbor by a 57-55 margin.
TU (9-4, 1-2 CL) fought from behind on Saturday, as the team trailed Spring Arbor (3-8, 1-2 CL) until halfway through the fourth quarter. A Kendall Bradbury two-pointer knotted the two teams at 48 points apiece, before Buchs nabbed Taylor’s first lead of the game with a deep triple.
A slow start set the TU squad backwards, as the Cougars jumped out to a 9-0 lead in the first quarter. Merideth Deckard provided a nice spark off the bench to keep the Trojans in the game. Coming in for the final three minutes of the first period, Deckard scored two buckets from downtown to continue to cut down on the Cougar lead.
Down eight late in the second quarter, the Purple and Gold put together a seven point run before halftime. Despite the one point deficit at the half, Taylor shot the ball well, converting on 45.8 percent of its shots from the floor and 46.2 percent of its shots from beyond the arc.
Both offenses struggled in the third period with a combined 17 points in the quarter. TU tallied just six points off of three-pointers from Bradbury and Haley Stratman.
Taylor came out fast in the final stanza, tallying five-straight points to bring the deficit down to just one point. A back and forth battle ensued with TU finding its largest lead of five points before allowing the Cougars to even it up with 1:44 remaining. After a scoreless minute of action, Buchs grabbed an offensive rebound prior to being fouled and sent to the charity stripe. The junior knocked down the pair of free throws for the win.
Buchs led the team with 16 points on the afternoon, including eight points in the crucial fourth quarter. Also contributing double-digit points, Aubrey Wright had herself a game with 11 points, three assists and two steals. Wright added five total rebounds and three offensive rebounds, which helped TU to three second-chance points in the final period.
No. 10 Taylor will head to No. 24 Huntington (7-3, 0-2 CL) for its next contest, facing the Foresters at 7:00 pm on Wednesday.