TU Ends Eight-Year Drought at Huntington with 65-61 Win
HUNTINGTON, Ind. – The Taylor women’s basketball team downed Huntington, 65-61, on the road on Wednesday night, marking TU’s first win at Huntington since December 2, 2009.
The Trojans trailed, 17-10, after the first period, where TU hit just four of its 16 shots (25 percent) and Huntington converted eight-of-13 (61.5 percent) from the field. The Foresters (9-7, 2-3 CL) started the stanza with a 6-0 run and ended it on a 7-0 spurt.
An and-one by Cassidy Wyse and a three-pointer by Josie Cobb pulled the Trojans within one, 17-16, after just 90 seconds of play in the second quarter. Cobb and Wyse hit back-to-back shots midway through the period to give TU its first lead of the game, 22-21, at the 4:35 mark. HU added a bucket to briefly regain the lead, but a 6-0 surge by the Purple and Gold gave the Trojans a 28-23 advantage, before a last-second triple by the Foresters made it 28-26 TU at the break.
The hosts led for most of the third stanza until Aubrey Wright knocked down a triple to begin a 9-2 run that put Taylor ahead, 40-39, at the end of 30 minutes.
TU’s run spilled into the fourth quarter, as Jamie Netzley drilled a trey and Kendall Bradbury added a deuce to give the Purple and Gold a 45-39 lead with 8:58 to play. The Foresters cut the lead to two points at the 4:54 mark, but Netzley’s triple pushed the lead back to five, 50-45, less than 30 seconds later.
Bradbury produced a bucket and a hoop-and-harm on back-to-back possessions to increase the Trojan lead to a game-high eight points with 3:28 remaining, but Huntington scored six unanswered points to make it a one-possession game, 55-53, with 2:17 to go. Wyse knocked down a three-pointer to give Taylor a four-point lead at the 1:48 mark, before HU cut it to a one-point, 59-58 lead with 70 seconds remaining. The Purple and Gold made all six of its free-throw attempts in the final 33 seconds to secure the win.
Bradbury led the Trojans with a game-high 20 points on seven-of-14 (50 percent) from the field, eight rebounds and three assists. Wyse totaled 16 points, six boards, three assists, a block and a steal, while Cobb produced 12 points, three rebounds and two steals, and Netzley added seven points, a career-high-tying four rebounds and two steals off the bench for the victors.
In its next contest, RV Taylor (11-6, 4-1 CL) will travel to Indianapolis to take on two-time defending NAIA Division II National Champion and fifth-ranked Marian (15-2, 4-1 CL) at 1:00 pm on Saturday.