WICHITA, Kan. – The Friends University Falcons achieved arguably their biggest regular season win in multiple years with a 61-54 victory over the KCAC co-leading University of Saint Mary Spires today (Feb. 10) inside a raucous Garvey Center. It's the 11th straight win for the Falcons and extends the program's longest winning streak since the 2017-18 season.
In handing the Spires just their second conference loss of the season, the Falcons pulled into a tie for second place in the league with Saint Mary at 16-2 in the league, one game behind frontrunner Tabor College and one week ahead of a matchup in Hillsboro, Kan. with the Bluejays.
After the Spires shaved a 14-point fourth quarter lead all the way down to one, Taylor Jackson asserted herself on three straight critical possessions, starting with a blocked shot that helped prevent Saint Mary from taking its first lead of the game.
Jackson then corralled an offensive rebound and scored to push the lead back to three. On the Spires' ensuing possession, the Houston, Texas native pulled down a stout defensive rebound, drew a foul and nailed two key free throws for a five-point cushion with 1:23 left.
Following a score by Keely Barnard that again made it a one-possession game, Lauryn McIver stepped up while stepping back to sink a crucial three-pointer and close out the big victory for the Falcons.
"What a great game!" said Friends women's basketball head coach Dean Jaderston. "Both teams played tournament-intensity defense and points were hard to come by. It was probably our best defensive performance of the season, and we got some clutch plays and free throws to seal the win."
The Falcons got off to a quick start behind a stifling defensive performance that forced the Spires to miss eight of their first nine shots in building a 12-3 lead at the 5:40 mark of the first quarter.
A steal and layup by McIver then stretched the lead to a game-high 15 points before a three from Alyche Brown pulled Saint Mary within 27-15 heading to the second period.
Both defenses began to settle in from that point, with the Spires outscoring the Falcons just 9-5 in the second quarter to make it 32-24 at the break.
Tanea Sims scored to start the third quarter to cut the Falcon lead to six, but six straight points from Rayland Garner and a three by Ashlyn Ryall capped a 13-4 burst that pushed the Friends lead back to 15 points at 45-30.
The Falcons led by 10 at 47-37 and opened the fourth period with a three-point play by Garner and score from Jackson to go up by 14 before the Spires started their climb back.
McIver led all scorers with 18 points for the Falcons (19-5, 16-2 KCAC) along with 13 assists, with Jackson recorded a strong double-double of 13 points and 15 rebounds. Garner finished with 13 points for Friends and Kassie Kinniburgh contributed nine points and boards.
Paige Pendley also had a double-double with 11 points and 12 boards for the Spires, while Sims added 10 points. Alanis Delgado recorded a game-high five assists to lead Saint Mary (19-5, 16-2 KCAC).
The defensive battle saw the Falcons shoot 32.8 percent (21-of-64) from the field while limiting the Spires to just a 27.4 percent (20-of-73) clip.
A big key to the win was the Falcons ability to control the paint, outrebounding Saint Mary 52-46 and holding scoring edges of 24-14 in the paint and 18-10 in second chance points.
The Falcons will next play at Southwestern College Wednesday evening (Feb. 14) for a 6 pm tip-off in Winfield, Kan.
