The Lowdown: York University at Friends University

Location: Garvey Center

When: Saturday, Jan. 6 @ 1 pm

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Flying with the Falcons: In a matchup of two of the top three teams in the KCAC, the Tabor College Bluejays came away with a 58-54 win Wednesday evening (Jan. 3) inside the Garvey Center. The Bluejays stayed unbeaten in the conference at 7-0, while the Falcons dropped to 5-2 in the league.

The duo of Rayland Garner and Taylor Jackson is the Falcons' backbone this season, with Garner standing second in the KCAC in scoring (16.5 ppg) and Jackson topping the league in rebounding (11.6 rpg) along with ranking second in blocks (2.1 bpg) and scoring 12.8 ppg. Kori Babcock is also averaging double-figure points (10.2 ppg) while Lauryn McIver is second in the conference with a team-leading 3.7 assists per game.

The Falcons have been solid defensively, holding the opposition to just a 34.5 field-goal percentage overall and a 28.7 percent clip from the perimeter.  

Scouting the Panthers: The York University Panthers are currently 3-8 overall and 2-5 in the KCAC following an 89-67 setback at Bethel College on Wednesday.

Destiny Shepherd is tops on the Panthers this season in points (8.8 ppg) and assists (2.1 apg), while Clara Romero leads the team with 5.4 rebounds per game.

The Series: The Falcons have dominated the matchups, winning 19 of 20 meetings between the two schools on record. Since falling 59-57 at home in 2008, Friends has won 19 straight over York.   

Quoting Head Coach Dean Jaderston 

"York has a young new team that plays very hard. They have some dynamic players we have to contain. Our biggest challenge is staying focused on getting better every game. We should be motivated to start a new winning streak so I expect us to come out pretty focused."

Defensive Honor: Friends University junior forward Taylor Jackson added to her impressive defensive accolades with her 11th career KCAC Defensive Player of the Week honor on Dec. 18. Jackson tallied six defensive rebounds, two steals and one block as the Falcons carried a one-point lead into the fourth quarter before the nationally ranked College of the Ozarks Lady Bobcats pulled it out in the final period (Dec. 15).

Read the full release HERE!

70 is a Serious Number: The Falcons have won eight of nine games when limiting the opposition to below the 70-point mark, but have come up short all four times the opposing team scores at least 70 points. Conversely, the Falcons are a perfect 7-0 when scoring at least 70 points themselves, but have lost five of the six games when failing to reach the 70-point mark.

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 has proven to be true thus far for the Falcons, as they're 8-1 when leading in field-goal percentage, but have lost all four times the opposition has shot better from the field.

Sharing is Caring: The Falcons have won all seven games when leading in assists, but are just 1-5 when the opposition records more helpers.  

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 11 for her career after winning two awards this year.  The Houston, Texas native is the Falcons' modern-era career leader in blocks with 231 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: 8-5

KCAC: 5-2

Home: 5-2

Road: 3-3

Neutral: 0-0

When scoring:                                          

Under 50 points: 0-2

50-59 points: 0-3

60-69 points: 1-0

70-79 points: 3-0

80-89 points: 3-0

90+ points:  1-0

When allowing:

Under 50 points: 3-0

50-59 points: 2-1

60-69 points: 3-0

70-79 points: 0-3

80-89 points: 0-1

90+ points: 0-0

When leading at halftime: 7-0

When trailing at halftime: 1-5

When tied at halftime: 0-0

When committing fewer turnovers: 5-1

When committing more turnovers: 2-4

When turnovers are even: 1-0

When leading in field-goal percentage: 8-1

When trailing in field-goal percentage: 0-4

When field-goal percentage is even: 0-0

When leading in three-point percentage: 5-1

When trailing in three-point percentage: 3-4

When leading in rebounding: 7-2

When trailing in rebounding: 1-3

When rebounding is even: 0-0

When leading in assists: 7-0

When trailing in assists: 1-5

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.

Corinna Minjarez enters her fifth season as head coach of the York College women's basketball team.

Minjarez was a graduate assistant coach at York after a two-year playing career for the Panthers. She scored over 1,000 career points at York and was a two-time first-team all-conference selection (MCAC) while setting the school's single-season scoring record.

Up Next: The Falcons will be on the road Wednesday evening (Jan. 10) for a 6 pm tip-off at Avila University in Kansas City, Mo.