[Women's Basketball] Women's Basketball Falcons charge into KCAC tourney with 76-42 romp of ...
WICHITA, Kan. – The Friends University Falcons celebrated Senior Night in style with a 76-42 rout of the Southwestern College Lady Builders in the regular season finale tonight (Feb. 18) inside the Garvey Center. The Falcons are now set for a KCAC postseason tournament matchup at Bethany College Thursday night (Feb. 23).
Trailing 10-8 in the early going, a three by Gracie Sammons (SR/Aubrey, Texas) capped a 7-0 spurt to put the Falcons up five.
Ashlyn Ryall (SO/Friendswood, Texas) then contributed two huge threes in the second period to ignite a 12-2 burst and extend a five-point lead all the way up to 15 at 33-18 late in the opening half.
A 33-21 Falcon lead at the break quickly ballooned up to 20 when six points from Jailen Johnson (SR/Grand Prairie, Texas) keyed an 8-0 spurt to begin the second half.
The Falcons held the Lady Builders scoreless for more than three minutes to start the third quarter to gain full command of the contest.
It was then Taylor Jackson (SO/Houston, Texas)'s turn to finish the third quarter much like Johnson started it, scoring all six points of a 6-0 run during the final 1:12 to push the Falcons' lead up to 56-32 heading to the fourth.
The Falcons were never threatened in the final period and took their largest lead of the game at 76-39 behind four points each from Johnson and Bridget Busbee (SR/Grand Prairie, Texas) during a 10-0 push.
"What a great night for our seniors!" said Friends women's basketball head coach Dean Jaderston. "We got a full team effort tonight, and each had their moment to shine. They are a great group of young women, and their contributions go far beyond the basketball court."
Jackson was her normal, stifling self in the interior for the Falcons, recording game-high totals of 20 points, seven rebounds and four blocks along with three steals. Sammons scored 11 and had five steals, with Kassie Kinniburgh (JR/Valley Center, Kan.) also reaching double-digit scoring with 10 points for Friends.
Hunter Garcia was the lone Lady Builder in double-figures with 10 points.
The Falcons were strong on both ends tonight, tallying a 54.2 percentage (32-of-59) from the field while limiting the Lady Builders to just a 32.1 percent (17-of-53) clip.
Tip-off of Thursday night's KCAC postseason matchup between the seventh-seeded Falcons and second-seeded Swedes is set for 7 pm in Lindsborg, Kan.
"Now, on to the playoffs," said Jaderston. "It's good to go into the postseason on a winning streak and now anything can happen. We're excited to get another shot at Bethany. We didn't feel we played very well against them the first time. We'll be ready for Thursday."