[Women's Basketball] No. 21 Falcons Stifle Kansas Wesleyan, 75-56
WICHITA, Kan. – Once again, the No. 21-ranked Friends University Falcons put together a smothering defensive performance in defeating the Kansas Wesleyan University Coyotes 75-56 in KCAC action tonight (Dec. 12) inside the Garvey PE Gymnasium. The win keeps the Falcons in a tie for first place in the league with No. 17-ranked Tabor College at 7-1.
The Falcons forced 26 KWU turnovers on the night, marking the third straight game they forced at least that many.
Friends jumped on the Coyotes from the start, as Betty Akathiotou (SR/Nicosia, Cyprus) put in five straight points that gave the Falcons a 9-2 lead near the midway point of the first quarter.
Following seven straight from KWU that tied the score, two threes from Makenzie Vining (SR/Caney, Kan.) and a pair of buckets by Laramie Edens (JR/Ada, Okla. ) powered a surge of 14 consecutive Falcon points that bridged the final 2:38 of the first quarter and the opening 1:47 of the second that gave Friends a commanding 23-9 lead.
A three by Tia Bouvia (SR/Cypress, Texas) extended the Falcon edge to a first-half high of 31-13 at the 5:31 mark before Friends carried a 36-23 lead into the break.
The Falcons continued to stretch out the lead in the third quarter to as high as 25 when a three by Jakki Ellis (SR/Duncanville, Texas) made it 56-31 late in the period.
With the lead built to 26, the Coyotes made a push as Khayla Munir scored six points to spark a 14-2 run that shaved 12 points off the Falcon lead and brought KWU within 61-47 with 5:52 left.
But Betty Akathiotou put a halt to any chance the Coyotes had of rallying all the way back by personally outscoring KWU 8-0 over the next 1:37 to extend the lead back to 22 with 4:06 remaining.
After consecutive threes from Courtney Heinen trimmed the lead to 16, it was Akathiotou again providing the final dagger with a three that put it away with 3:01 left.
Akathiotou anchored both the Falcons' offensive and defensive efforts in the win. She scored 18 of her game-high 25 points in the second half to help hold off the Coyotes, while adding six rebounds.
Recording seven steals for the second time this season, Akathiotou is averaging 6.7 thefts over the past three games to fuel the Falcons' defensive performances during that stretch.
Vining scored 13 and Bouvia added 11 points. Khadijah Kelly (FR/Arlington, Texas) led Friends (9-4, 7-1 KCAC) with a career-best seven rebounds and April Quiroz (SR/El Paso, Texas) tied her career-high output with four steals.
Heinen led the Coyotes (7-7, 5-3 KCAC) with 15 points, while Maddie Miller scored 13 along with a game-high nine boards.
The Falcons limited the Coyotes to only 36.2 percent (21-of-58) for the game and 29 percent (9-of-31) from three-point distance.
Friends will next play at No. 9-ranked (NAIA D-I) Benedictine College on Friday evening (Dec. 15), starting at 5 pm in Atchinson, Kan.