WICHITA, Kan. – The Friends University Falcons sewed up their fifth straight victory with a strong fourth quarter in a 77-67 win over the Bethel College Threshers in a KCAC matchup tonight (Jan. 20) inside the Garvey Center. The Falcons are now 13-5 overall and remain in third place in the conference with a 10-2 league record.
Friends came out of the gates strong, jumping out to an early 15-2 lead led by the facilitating play of Lauryn McIver, who scored or assisted on five of the Falcons' first six made field-goals. The Falcons never trailed in the wire-to-wire victory, but had to hold on through some anxious moments in the second half.
Following a bucket inside by Kassie Kinniburgh that pushed the lead to 15 points, the Threshers scored the last five points of the first quarter to come within 19-9.
Bethel extended the run to 12-2 overall behind four points by Madyson McKenzie and a three-point play from Kendall Locke that made it 21-16.
Trinity Johnson then did her part to turn back the Threshers with three of her four treys on the night to fuel a 14-3 burst and make it 35-19 with 4:12 left in the first half.
The Threshers again closed out the quarter strong and trimmed the deficit to nine before McIver split two free throws to give the Falcons a 10-point lead again of 39-29 at the break.
After Rayland Garner asserted herself offensively and scored eight points through the first 5:30 of the third quarter to help the Falcons twice push the lead back to 13, Locke (six points) and McKinzie (five points) combined for 11 points of a 14-5 spurt to conclude the third period and pull the Threshers within 58-54 heading to the final quarter.
Early in the fourth period, the Threshers twice climbed within two points, but each time it was Kori Babcock turning the tide, first with a three and then a running jumper off the glass for a 63-59 Falcon lead at the 8:16 mark.
With the lead hanging at three, it was again Babcock who followed her own three-point miss with an offensive rebound and a jumper just in front of the free-throw line to again thwart the Threshers and ignite an 11-2 burst that finally put it away for the Falcons.
"On a night we didn't shoot well, our defense got us off to a great start and we made some big plays at just the right time," said Friends women's basketball head coach Dean Jaderston. "We also did a great job on the boards tonight, getting some big rebounds at key times. We are starting to find some balance…all five starters in double figures and two with double-doubles makes us hard to guard down the stretch."
The Falcons got double-doubles from Garner (21 points, 10 rebounds) and Taylor Jackson (13 points, 12 rebounds) as all five starters reached double-figure scoring. McIver finished with an all-around stat line of 13 points, a career-high tying seven rebounds and six assists, while Johnson wound up with 14 points and Babcock chipped in with 10 points, all in the decisive fourth quarter. Jackson also swatted a game-high three shots for Friends.
Locke paced the Threshers (6-12, 6-6 KCAC) with 21 points and McKinzie added 13 points.
The Falcons dominated the glass, holding a 54-30 edge in rebounds and outscoring the Threshers 20-18 in the paint and 14-5 in second chance points.
Up next, the Falcons will play at KCAC newcomer Evangel University Wednesday evening (Jan. 24) at 5:30 pm in Springfield, Mo.
