[Women's Basketball] Women's Basketball Falcons Grind Out 53-52 Win Over McPherson

WICHITA, Kan. – The No. 21-ranked Friends University Falcons found a way to overcome a tough offensive night to survive the McPherson College Bulldogs, 53-52 tonight (Dec. 6) inside the Garvey PE Gymnasium in Wichita.

The win keeps the Falcons in a tie for second in the KCAC with Sterling College at 5-1 in the league.

Battling through an offensive slump for the final three quarters, the Falcons were forced to rely on their defense when they were clinging to a one-point lead and the Bulldogs had possession with 10.9 seconds left.

Like much of the night, the Falcons' defensive effort would rise to the occasion and forced a turnover to close out the win.

The Bulldogs scored the first bucket of the game, but the Falcons quickly seized command in the first half.   

Friends outscored McPherson 18-4 over the next five plus minutes, capped by a three-point play and two free throws by Makenzie Vining (SR/Caney, Kan.) that gave the Falcons a 12 point lead at the 4:08 mark of the opening quarter.

Betty Akathiotou (SR/Nicosia, Cyprus) then drove in for a layup before converting a steal into another score to help the Falcons extend the lead to 27-14 after one period.

From that point, it was rough terrain offensively, as the Falcons' only field goals from the 4:49 mark of the opening quarter to the 6:47 point of the fourth was scored by Akathiotou.

The Falcons mustered only two points in the second quarter, but held a 29-23 lead at the break thanks to also picking up the intensity on the defensive end and limiting the Bulldogs to only nine points in the period.

After the Bulldogs grabbed their first lead since it was 2-0 on a score from Brittany Roberts and a free-throw by Brooklyn Coe that made it 47-44, it was Vining that hit a three to snap the Falcons' non-Akathiotou field goal drought and tie the score with 6:47 left.

Vining then scored again to put Friends back up by two, but Coe answered for the Bulldogs to once again create a 49-49 gridlock.

But a score from Tia Bouvia (SR/Cypress, Texas) and a putback by Yowana Posey (SR/Chicago, Ill.) gave the Falcons some breathing room again at 53-49 with 4:02 left.

That would be all the scoring for Friends, but the Falcons were up to the challenge again defensively, holding the Bulldogs without a field goal the rest of the way and only one free throw from Coe and a pair at the charity stripe by Cami Richardson with 2:33 left.

Akathiotou provided a lift for the Falcons (7-4, 5-1 KCAC) with a game-high 21 points on 8-of-16 shooting from the field. She also recorded a personal season-high seven steals that helped the Falcons withstand a tough night offensively.

Vining scored 18 for the Falcons and pulled down a game-high eight rebounds.

Coe was the lone player in double-figures for McPherson with 10 points.

The Bulldogs outrebounded Friends by a slim margin of 44-43 while holding a 34-20 edge in points in the paint.  But the Falcons had a 12-10 advantage in second-chance points.

The Falcons will next hit the road and play at York College Saturday evening (Dec. 9) at 5 pm in York, Neb.