No. 15 Taylor Picks Up Fifth-Straight Win at SAU
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SPRING ARBOR, Mich. – After trailing Spring Arbor, 21-16, after the first quarter, the Taylor women’s basketball team outscored the Cougars, 46-28, over the final 30 minutes to record a 62-49 victory at Spring Arbor on Wednesday night, the fifth-straight win for the Trojans.
Spring Arbor (8-14, 2-9 CL) held a 21-16 lead after the opening 10 minutes, despite TU making eight of its 13 looks from the floor (61.5 percent), as SAU converted eight-of-14 (57.1 percent) from the field and four-of-eight from behind the three-point line. The Trojans missed all four of their attempts from downtown in the period.
Taylor rattled off seven points to begin the second period to take a 23-21 lead on Becca Buchs’ deuce at the 7:26 mark. A Cougar triple 44 seconds later gave Spring Arbor its final lead of the game, as Jamie Netzley answered with a two-pointer, followed by Josie Cobb’s three-pointer that put TU up four. The two squads essentially traded scores the rest of the half, and Taylor held a 37-32 edge at the intermission.
The Purple and Gold replicated its first-quarter scoring efficiency in the second quarter, shooting eight-of-13 overall and adding three-of-five from long range, while holding the hosts to five-of-13 (38.5 percent) overall and one-of-five from deep.
The two teams struggled offensively in the third stanza, as both squads combined to make eight shots and score 20 points, after each team produced a 21-point quarter of their own in the first half. Taylor still extended its lead, however, taking a 49-40 advantage into the final period.
The Trojans put the clamps on SAU again in the fourth quarter, holding Spring Arbor to just nine points on three made field goals, while forcing the Cougars into six turnovers.
Kendall Bradbury scored the first six TU points of the fourth to push the lead to 55-42 with 8:04 to play. Spring Arbor answered with a triple to cut it back to a 10-point game, but Cobb, Bradbury and Netzley each notched a basket to give Taylor its largest lead of the game, 61-45, with 2:29 to play, allowing the Purple and Gold to close out the road victory.
Bradbury led the Trojans with her 21st-straight 20-point game, scoring 22 points and grabbing six rebounds.
Wyse’s 18 points moved her into 11th place on TU’s all-time scoring list with 1,375 career points, passing Tess Rudolph’s 1,364 career points from 2009 through 2013. Wyse also pulled down a game-high boards for TU.
Cobb tallied an all-around line of seven points, a career-high seven assists, four steals and three rebounds, while Netzley knocked down all three of her shots from the floor for eight points off the bench.
No. 22 Taylor (16-7, 9-2 CL) will look for its sixth-straight win at 1:00 pm on Saturday, when it hosts No. 5 Marian (21-2, 10-1 CL) for a Pink Out Game at Paul Patterson Court. The Knights erased an 11-point, third-quarter TU lead for a 75-66 win in the teams’ first matchup of the season on January 6 in Indianapolis.
