Winfield, Kan. – It took well into the second half, but the Friends University Falcons managed to pull away from the Southwestern College Lady Builders 81-66 for their 12^th straight win tonight (Feb. 14) in a KCAC matchup at the Stewart Fieldhouse in Winfield, Kan.

The win keeps the Falcons tied for second in the conference with a 17-2 league record and marks the second 20 win season for the program in the past three years.

The Lady Builders provided quite an obstacle to the Falcons in the first half, leading by two at the end of the first quarter and then using a 12-2 spurt late in the second period to turn a six-point deficit into a four-point lead before Ellie Munds connected from three-point distance to bring Friends within 38-37 at the break.

A three by Kori Babcock started the second half on the right note for the Falcons and ignited a 15-4 run that suddenly had Friends in front by double-digits at 54-42 by the midway point of the third quarter.

After the Lady Builders closed within seven on three occasions, a putback by Taylor Jackson and driving layup from Lauryn McIver off a turnover gave Friends a double-figure lead again of 61-51 heading to the fourth period.

Babcock then started the final quarter much like the third with a three and McIver followed that with another score to give the Falcons their largest lead to that point of 66-51.

Christy Wiebe scored for Southwestern to temporarily halt the spurt, but McIver continued her scoring onslaught and nailed two threes to fuel a 9-2 burst and make it a 20-point game at 75-55 with 6:49 left in the game.

A bucket by Sadie Hopman at the 4:52 mark resulted in the biggest lead of the game at 77-56 and the Falcons cruised to the win from there.

"Trap games on the road are always tough," said Friends women's basketball head coach Dean Jaderston. "Southwestern is still competing hard and they're always dangerous at home. And when the game is sandwiched between games with the two teams tied for first in the conference, getting players to focus and execute is hard, no matter how much they want to. Just look at our free throw percentage and turnover difference between the St. Mary game and Southwestern game. Those stats are almost always reflective of focus and execution. Getting the win was the most important thing even if it wasn't always pretty, and now we can turn the page and focus on Tabor on Saturday."

McIver, the KCAC's leader in assists, scored the ball tonight with 19 points to equal her career-high output. The Phoenix, Ariz. native also led the Falcons (20-5, 17-2 KCAC) with a game-high five helpers. It was another double-double for Jackson with 16 points and 14 rebounds, while Rayland Garner finished with 11 points.

Wiebe paced the Lady Builders (0-23, 0-19 KCAC) with 27 points and 10 boards, with Macey Pond and Hunter Garcia each recording a team-high four assists.

After being outshot 48.4 percent to 38.5 percent from the field in the first half, the Falcons cooled Southwestern off to a 25.7 percent clip after halftime while warming up to shoot 43.6 percent in the second half themselves.

Friends also controlled the interior, outrebounding the Lady Builders 55-44 that led to scoring advantages of 26-20 in the paint and 16-5 in second chance points.