Offensive Woes Lead to Four-Point Loss in Florida
LAKE WALES, Fla. – After a 17-day break from game action, the Taylor women’s basketball team (7-6) took the court on Wednesday in Florida for its first matchup in program history with the Warner University Royals (7-6). Despite a career-best 13 rebounds from Ariel Dale, which helped carve an 11-point edge in the rebound column, the Trojans lost by a final score of 55-51.
Taylor suffered its lowest-scoring game of the season while shooting just 25.0 percent as a team on 80 total shots taken from the floor. The three-point line proved especially troublesome for the Trojans, marked by a 5-33 team effort from deep.
Even so, the score read 12-10 with Taylor holding the slight advantage at the end of the first frame.
Along the way, Taylor shot just 1-9 from the floor in the opening four minutes, before Maycee Woods entered the game and promptly hit a three to give Taylor a 7-4 lead. Soon after, an Ariel Dale steal followed by a Taylor Westgate offensive rebound and putback extended the Trojan lead to five, which forced Warner’s first timeout of the game.
Warner answered with a 4-0 run, which was sharply ended with Hope Custer’s first points in a Trojan uniform in the shape of a three-point basket. Though Taylor held a two-point first-quarter edge, the Trojans shot just 4-23 from the floor and 2-13 from three.
Warner started the second frame with a 6-2 run to work a 16-14 lead. Taylor then forced three Warner turnovers, which helped flip the lead to a two-point edge in favor of the Trojans. That two-point cushion inflated to five after Custer recorded a steal and converted a fastbreak and-one sequence into her second three-point play of the half.
The Royals cut the lead to one with under a minute to play, however, before Claycee West hit a clutch three from the top of the key to carry TU into the half with a 28-24 advantage. Even while Taylor was plagued by consistent shooting struggles, the Trojans benefited from seven points off turnovers and a five-point advantage at the free-throw line en route to its four-point first-half lead.
Westgate led the way with eight points in the opening half, while Custer added six and Dale snagged seven of her career-best 13 boards.
The offensive woes continued for Taylor outside of the half, however, as the Trojans scored just six points in the first eight minutes of the third quarter. Meanwhile, Warner worked a three-point lead, though Taylor managed to close the quarter with a five-point flurry in the final two minutes to even the score at 39 apiece heading into the fourth.
After another sluggish Trojan start to the fourth quarter, Woods hit her second significant three-point basket of the game to give Taylor a 44-41 lead with six minutes to play.
By the five-minute mark, however, Warner had hit a clutch three of its own to establish a two-point lead. Freshman, Quinn Kelly, then made her first bucket of the game with just over three minutes to play to draw even at 48.
Warner subsequently worked a three-point edge with just over a minute to play, at which point West netted a jumped from deep to tie the game at 51. The Royals then went ahead with 50 ticks to play thanks to a pair of free throws, after which the Trojans fell scoreless until the final buzzer rang with the score reading 55-51 in favor of Warner.
Westgate and Custer served as the lone Trojans to reach double digits, as Westgate led the way with 14 followed by an even 10 posted by Custer.
TU (7-6) is slated to return to action on Friday, December 30, when the Trojans play Webber International (2-9) at 3:00 pm, followed by a matchup with Keiser (10-4) on New Year’s Eve.