Bartlesville, Okla. – Down by 15 points in the first quarter, the Friends University Falcons caught fire and outscored the Oklahoma Wesleyan University Lady Eagles by a whopping 78-35 during the final 36:30 to win a 78-50 rout in KCAC action tonight (Jan. 17) in Bartlesville, Okla.
The Falcons are now 12-5 overall and remain in the third spot in the KCAC with a 9-2 conference record. The 9-2 start to the conference is the best for Friends since winning the league in the 2017-18 season with a 20-2 mark in the KCAC.
The Lady Eagles scored the first 15 points of the game until a pair of free throws by Natia Hagan finally put the Falcons on the board at the 3:29 mark of the first quarter.
A three-point play by Rayland Garner followed and a tip-in by Taylor Jackson capped an 11-2 run overall and bring the Falcons within six heading to the second period.
It was still a six-point deficit late in the first half when scores from Jackson and Lauryn McIver cut the OKWU lead to 30-28 at the break.
The Falcons started the second half like they ended the first, getting a tip-in from Jackson and a three-pointer by Kori Babcock. That represented the first lead of the night for the Falcons, and it was a lead they would only add to the rest of the way.
McIver scored six of her career-high 19 points to key a 13-2 spurt to begin the third quarter and give Friends a 41-32 cushion.
After Tatiana Gilford scored to temporarily halt the spurt, Jackson converted a three-point play to stretch the lead into double-figures and that's the advantage the Falcons enjoyed going into the fourth quarter.
The final period emphatically belonged to the Falcons, with Garner and Jackson each starting the quarter with three points apiece to push the lead up to 58-42.
Leading by 18, a three by Trinity Johnson effectively put the game away at the 4:47 mark and the Falcons eventually took their largest lead of the game on a jumper by Anna Sant'Anna that made it 76-47 with 1:19 remaining.
"Basketball is a funny game," said Friends women's basketball head coach Dean Jaderston. "It was a really rough start for us on the road and we have to figure that out. But this team is really good at leaving a quarter or half in the past and playing in the present. We got off to a great start in the second half and never looked back."
Jackson, the three-time defending KCAC Defensive Player of the Week, anchored the Falcons with a powerful double-double of 22 points and 16 rebounds while blocking three shots. McIver's career-high 19 points featured a solid 8-of-11 from the field along with four assists and three steals. Garner added 10 points, six boards and three thefts.
River Jeffries was the lone Lady Eagle in double-figures with a team-high 11 points.
The Falcons shot 52.5 percent (32-of-61) from the field while stifling the Lady Eagles (4-13, 2-9 KCAC) on the other end to a 26.5 percent clip (18-of-68) from the field and just 1-of-17 from three-point distance.
The interior also heavily leaned to the Falcons, highlighted by a 45-24 edge in rebounding.
Coming up next, the Falcons will return home and host Bethel College Saturday evening (Jan. 20) at 5 pm inside the Garvey Center.
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