WICHITA, Kan. – Fighting through a sluggish start through much of the first half, all the Friends University Falcons needed was a career night from Rayland Garner to not only pull out a win but win going away 92-59 over the York University Panthers in a KCAC matchup today (Jan. 6) inside the Garvey Center.
With the victory, the Falcons are now 9-5 overall and remain in the third spot in the KCAC with a 6-2 mark in the league.
The Falcons missed nine of their first 10 shot attempts from the field, and that allowed the Panthers to lead 17-14 after the first period and then stretch that edge up to 25-16 at the 7:03 mark of the second quarter.
It was still a nine-point deficit late in the period when six points from Garner and five points by Kori Babcock, including a go-ahead three with 22 seconds left, anchored an 11-0 close to the half and put the Falcons on top 35-33 at the break.
Led by eight more points by Garner, that 11-0 run ballooned all the way up to 28-2 and staked the Falcons to a commanding 52-35 cushion at the 5:42 mark of the third quarter.
Leading by 13 heading to the fourth, Trinity Johnson connected on three treys and Taylor Jackson put in three buckets inside to fuel a 22-4 burst and make it 82-51 for the Falcons.
Fittingly, it was six straight points from Garner that gave the Falcons their biggest lead of the day at 88-53 while also resulting in a career-high 30 points for the Kingfisher, Okla. native.
"After a sluggish start we finally started getting the ball moving on offense and people flying around on defense," said Friends women's basketball head coach Dean Jaderston. "That triggered our transition game and turned the game around. Any time you can get 50 points in the paint, you know you are doing something right. We also got a big lift off our bench tonight with 22 points. We need that going forward."
Garner shot 14-of-20 overall on all two-point shots to help the Falcons to a staggering 50-18 scoring advantage in the paint. Garner's contributions weren't limited to the offensive end, as she also recorded a game-high four steals. Jackson also produced a double-double of 13 points and 11 boards, with Babcock adding 11 points and Lauryn McIver dishing out a career-high tying seven assists for Friends.
Ashley Rubio scored 15 and Jess McGrath chipped in with 14 points off the bench to lead the Panthers (3-9, 2-6 KCAC). Clara Romero also paced York off the bench with nine rebounds.
Corresponding to their dominance in the paint, the Falcons outrebounded the Panthers 52-49 and held a 21-16 edge in second chance points.
After shooting just 33.3 percent (12-of-36) in the opening half, the Falcons sizzled with a 61 percent (25-of-41) clip in the second half to cruise to the victory.
The Falcons will next be on the road Wednesday evening (Jan. 10) for a 6 pm tip-off at Avila University in Kansas City, Mo.
