Trojans Fall on the Road to the Roadrunners
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DENVER, Colo. – After jumping out to a quick lead in the opening quarter, the No. 19 Taylor women’s basketball team fell 72-61 on Monday to NCAA Division II Metropolitan State College of Denver.
During the first period, junior Becca Buchs scored the game’s first five points and TU’s (3-1) first eight points. Buchs drilled a three to open the scoring and then made a pair of free throws before hitting another shot from long range to give the Trojans an 8-4 cushion. Buchs added two more free throws and Taylor ended the first stanza with a 16-10 lead.
The Purple and Gold stretched the lead to six in the second quarter, before the Roadrunners (0-0) went on a seven-point run to even things at 23-23. Taylor stretched the lead back to four, until MSU Denver took a one-point lead at 34-33 into intermission. Senior Kendall Bradbury and Buchs each had 13 points at the break and Bradbury led the team with five rebounds.
Coming out of halftime, the Trojans were able to outscore the Roadrunners 13-12 in the third and held a 46-46 tie going into the last ten minutes of action. Bradbury and Buchs were the only TU players to score in the period, with Bradbury netting eight points on four-of-seven shooting.
The Roadrunners’ offense broke out in the last period and scored 26 points, while allowing the Purple and Gold to score 15 to secure the double-digit victory.
Bradbury ended with 26 points to lead the Trojans and had eight rebounds, finishing just shy of a double-double. Bradbury moved into second place on the Taylor all-time scoring list as she passed Rachel Haley and now has 2,145 career-points, 39 points from breaking the all-time mark
Buchs finished with career-highs of 22 points, six field-goals made, seven free-throws made and also added seven rebounds. Buchs has now made at least three triples in three of the team’s games this season. Senior Lacey Garrett had six points and junior Abby Buchs added five.
The Trojans were impressive at the free-throw line, making 16-of-19. Both teams hit five three-pointers during the contest.
TU returns to the Midwest and visits Trinity Christian (2-1) on Friday for a 5:00 p.m. showdown.