The Lowdown: Ottawa University at Friends University

Location: Garvey Center

When: Saturday, Dec. 2 @ 5 pm

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Flying with the Falcons: The Friends University Falcons improved to 5-2 on the season and are now 3-0 in the KCAC for the first time since the 2017-18 campaign following a wire-to-wire 69-51 victory at Bethany College Wednesday evening (Nov. 29) in Lindsborg, Kan.

A big key to Friends gaining an early foothold was the play of Lauryn McIver, who scored eight of her career-high 15 points within the first five minutes of the game to help stake the Falcons to a double-digit lead of 15-4.

Rayland Garner led the Falcons with 22 points along with a season-high tying 10 rebounds, three assists and three steals. In reaching her career-best 15 points, McIver shot 5-of-9 overall from the field, 3-of-5 from three-point distance and 2-of-2 at the charity stripe. The Phoenix, Ariz. native added four rebounds and four dimes. Taylor Jackson also corralled 10 boards and blocked three shots for Friends.

The Falcon defense was stingy throughout, limiting the Swedes to just a 22.5 percent (16-of-71) shooting clip for the game.

Garner leads the Falcons and is second in the KCAC with 17.3 points per game this season, while Jackson is pacing the KCAC with 11 rebounds per game and scoring 12.3 ppg. Kori Babcock is also scoring in double-figures with 11.1 ppg and has hit a team-leading 19 threes on the season. McIver is tied for second in the league with a team-leading 3.3 assists on the season for Friends.

The Falcons have been solid defensively, holding the opposition to just a 33.7 field-goal percentage overall and a 25.2 percent clip from the perimeter.  

Scouting the Braves: The Ottawa University Braves are 4-3 on the season and 1-2 in the KCAC after falling 95-79 to Bethel College on Wednesday.

Abby Dietsche is first on the Braves in both scoring (12.9 ppg) and rebounding (8.1 rpg) this season, with her rebounding total ranking fourth in the KCAC. Janiyah Hendricks is tops on the team in assists (2.9 apg) and is a threat from beyond the arc, currently slotting in fourth in the league in three-point percentage (46.4).

The Series: The Falcons are 30-13 vs. the Braves since 2004 and 19-3 in Wichita during that span. Each team won at home during the regular season last year, but Friends bested Ottawa on the road in the KCAC semifinal round to advance to the conference championship game.  

Quoting Head Coach Dean Jaderston: 

"Ottawa is a dangerous team. They have so many scorers and they keep putting pressure on the rim. They also have a new coach and as they develop chemistry they keep getting better. We have to protect the rim and make sure we're playing as a group. Offensively, we're improving too though. We want to build on the momentum we created in the second half against Bethany and keep moving the ball. When we trust ball movement we get easy looks."

Make or Miss League: Sometimes basketball can be broken down in its most simplistic terms: The team that shoots the ball better wins the majority of the time.  That's proven to be true thus far for the Friends University Falcons, as they're a perfect 5-0 when leading in field-goal percentage, but have lost both times the opposing team has shot better from the field.

Boarding School: The matchup between the Falcons and Braves will feature two of the top rebounders in the KCAC, with Taylor Jackson leading the league for Friends with 11 rebounds per game and Ottawa's Abby Dietsche ranking fourth in the league with 8.1 rebounds.

Block Parties: Taylor Jackson has been a major deterrent for the Falcons inside since joining the program for the 2021-22 season. Jackson won six KCAC Defensive Player of the Week awards last season and has now collected 10 for her career after winning the award earlier this year. The Houston, Texas native is the Falcons' modern-era career leader in blocks and has 222 swats for her career.

Sponsor Alerts: Friends University Athletics is excited to have Home2 Suites by Hilton as an official athletic sponsor this season! For more on what they can offer, click HERE to visit their official webpage.

Falcons by the Numbers

Overall record: 5-2

KCAC: 3-0

Home: 2-0

Road: 3-2

Neutral: 0-0

When scoring:                                           

Under 50 points: 0-2

50-59 points: 0-0

60-69 points: 1-0

70-79 points: 2-0

80-89 points: 1-0

90+ points:  1-0

When allowing:

Under 50 points: 2-0

50-59 points: 1-0

60-69 points: 2-0

70-79 points: 0-2

80-89 points: 0-0

90+ points: 0-0

When leading at halftime: 4-0

When trailing at halftime: 1-2

When tied at halftime: 0-0

When committing fewer turnovers: 2-0

When committing more turnovers: 2-2

When turnovers are even: 1-0

When leading in field-goal percentage: 5-0

When trailing in field-goal percentage: 0-2

When field-goal percentage is even: 0-0

When leading in three-point percentage: 3-0

When trailing in three-point percentage: 2-2

When leading in rebounding: 4-0

When trailing in rebounding: 1-2

When rebounding is even: 0-0

When leading in assists: 4-0

When trailing in assists: 1-2

When assists are even: 0-0

In OT: 0-0

The Coaches:

Dean Jaderston is in his fifth season at the helm of the Friends University women's basketball program. The Falcon women's basketball program has seen considerable growth under his leadership both on and off the court.  Last year the team finished 17-14, catching fire at the end of the season, making it all the way to the KCAC tournament championship game at Hartman Arena.

Jaderston brings a wealth of experience to Friends University, with over 30 years of coaching high school and college basketball (13 years high school and 23 years at the college level). Last season he recorded his 300th career collegiate win on December 13th vs. Tabor College.

As a men's basketball coach Jaderston was a two-time KCAC Coach of the Year. He coached six NAIA All-America performers during his tenure at Sterling College. He also led his teams to two KCAC championships and one KCAC tournament championship.

Prior to taking over at Sterling, Jaderston served in the dual role of men's basketball head coach and assistant athletic director at Trinity International University in Deerfield, IL for five seasons.

Before entering the college ranks he spent eight seasons as both the head girls' basketball and head girls' and boys' tennis coach at Rosemount High School in Rosemount, MN, and 4 years as the head boys' basketball coach at Eastview High School in Apple Valley, MN.

As an athlete Jaderston was a successful college basketball player at Crown College in St. Bonifacius, MN.  He was a four-time all-conference selection while helping the team advance to four national tournaments. He also earned All-America and Academic All-America during his college career.

He also competed in tennis for three years at Crown and was a two-time conference singles and three-time conference doubles champion.

Jaderston and his wife Julie have been married for 34 years and are active in youth and camping ministries. They currently serve as executive directors of a premier summer Christian family conference called Northern Pines of Minnesota. They have 3 married sons and 7 grandchildren.

He earned his Bachelor of Arts in History/Secondary Education from Crown College in 1989 and then completed a Master of Arts in Adlerian Counseling and Psychotherapy from Adler Graduate School in 1998.

Hunter Bondurant is in his first season as head coach of the Ottawa University women's basketball program.

Last season, Bondurant was an assistant coach for Ottawa, helping the Braves win 18 games, the programs most since the 2016-17 campaign.

Prior to joining the Ottawa women's basketball staff, Bondurant had a familiarity on campus after serving as the Assistant Recruiting Coordinator and Director of Social Media for the Braves' men's basketball team for two years.

Before that, Bondurant spent the 2019-20 season as the head coach for the Central High School girls' varsity basketball team in Allentown, Fla.  

Bondurant also has experience working with the Auburn University men's basketball program from 2010-12 and played collegiately at Millsaps College.

Up Next: The Falcons will travel to Leavenworth, Kan. to face the University of Saint Mary Spires Wednesday evening (Dec. 6) at 6 pm.