No. 15 Taylor Falls to No. 5 Marian in Top-15 Clash
UPLAND, Ind. – The Taylor women’s basketball team suffered a 72-54 loss to 5th-ranked Marian on Saturday inside Odle Arena, snapping a five-game winning streak.
The Knights (22-2, 11-1 CL) led 24-19 after both teams combined for nine three-pointers made in the first quarter. Marian shot the ball at a 58.8-percent clip in the opening period and knocked down four triples in seven attempts, while TU converted 53.8 percent of its field goal attempts, with five of its seven field goals coming from three-point range. The Trojans led 19-16 after a Kendall Bradbury bucket at the 2:59 mark of the first quarter, but MU finished the stanza on an 8-0 run for the five-point advantage.
Cassidy Wyse opened the second quarter with two baskets for the Purple and Gold to pull the Trojans within one, but the two-time defending national champions kept Taylor from taking the lead, as TU never got closer than four before halftime. The Knights closed the half with five-straight points, including a half-court shot as time expired, to take a 39-30 lead into intermission.
The Trojans turned the ball over a costly 12 times in the first half, and MU held a 12-4 edge in points off turnovers at the break.
Taylor made another charge to begin the second half, as Abby Buchs knocked down a three-pointer, followed by seven consecutive points from Josie Cobb to pull the Trojans within one at the 5:06 mark. Marian responded with the next five points to push the lead back to six, and the visitors knocked down a three-pointer in the final seconds to enter the final period with a 53-47 lead over TU.
TU again charged to within two, 56-54, with 6:30 to play, but Marian slammed the door shut on the hosts with a 16-0 burst to end the contest. The Trojans missed their final seven shot attempts, while going scoreless over the final 6:30 of the game.
Wyse led the Trojans in the scoring column with 19 points, followed by Aubrey Wright’s 13 and Cobb’s 10. Cobb moved into 23rd on the program’s all-time scoring list with 1,070 career points, passing Erin Hutton’s 1,065 career points from 1997 to 2001.
Wyse also pulled down nine boards and dished out three assists, while Bradbury led TU with a game-high 12 rebounds and scored a season-low nine points on a career-low five shot attempts, ending a streak of 21-straight games of scoring at least 20 points.
No. 15 Taylor (16-8, 9-3 CL) will look to rebound from the loss at RV Saint Francis (15-9, 7-5 CL) on Wednesday night at 7:00 pm.
