WICHITA, Kan. -- The Friends University Falcons secured a commanding victory over the McPherson College Bulldogs with a final score of 83-52 this afternoon (Dec. 14) inside the Garvey Center.  It's the second straight win for the Falcons, who are now 7-5 overall and tied for third in the KCAC with a 5-2 league record. 

The Falcons trailed the Bulldogs 20-14 late in the first quarter but exploded from that point, outscoring the Bulldogs 15-0 from the last 1:34 of the opening period through the first 5:27 of the second quarter. Two buckets from Taylor Jackson started the run and a pair of scores from Abigail Barr ended it, with the Falcons tightening the defensive screws by forcing nine straight misses by the Bulldogs during the pivotal stretch. 

The Falcons led 33-26 at the break and the third quarter saw Friends extend their lead with a strong offensive performance, getting a three from Kori Babcock and a then a score by Kyla Frenchers that capped a 9-2 run and doubled the seven-point halftime lead up to 42-28 at the 5:57 mark. Frenchers then nailed a three that pushed the lead to 18 at 59-41 heading to the fourth.  

After McPherson scored six of the first eight points of the fourth quarter, the Falcons took over for good,  getting a pair of big three-pointers from Jadyn Glasgow and three-point plays from both Jackson and Barr to pull ahead 75-47 with 3:27 left. 

The final 31-point margin of victory represented the Falcons' biggest lead of the night. 

"It's always hard to come off a big win then turn around and refocus against a struggling team," said Friends women's basketball head coach Dean Jaderston.  "It took us a quarter to get our focus, but we finally started guarding. In the second half we started making some shots and saw it come together. Now we have to get ready for a very good Columbia team on Tuesday."

Jackson (17 points, 16 rebounds) and Barr (16 points, 15 rebounds) each put in a double-double to power the Falcons, with the 15 boards representing a career-high for Barr. Lauryn McIver also had a strong performance, scoring 13 points with five assists and seven rebounds. Glasgow finished with 12 points, with Frenchers contributed nine points and a team-leading two steals.

Kennedy Smith led the Bulldogs with 13 points and eight boards, while Gillian Rodgers added 10 points. Jayla Moore had a team-best four assists for McPherson (0-13, 0-7 KCAC). 

The Falcons maintained a 57-48 edge overall on the glass and limited the Bulldogs to 27.8 percent shooting (20-of-72) overall and just 21.7 percent (5-of-23) from three-point distance. 

Looking ahead, the Falcons will host (RV) Columbia College (Mo.) on Tuesday evening (Dec. 17) at 5 pm before taking time off for the Christmas Break.