WICHITA, Kan. -- The Friends University Falcons continued their surge up the KCAC standings with their fifth straight conference victory in an 89-45 rout of the Oklahoma Wesleyan University Eagles today (Jan. 11) inside the Garvey Center. 

The win is the Falcons' 10th of the season and keeps them firmly in the second spot in the KCAC at 8-2 in the league. 

The Falcon defense was stifling from the outset, setting a dominant tone early on. 

Lauryn McIver provided the offensive spark with 15 first half points, helping the Falcons jump on top 20-6 at the end of the first quarter and converting a steal into a fastbreak layup for a 20-point edge of 33-13 at the 4:13 mark. 

The Falcons continued the onslaught and led 44-20 at the break following a three-point play by KK Peeler with seven seconds left. 

McIver then picked up where she left off in the first half, hitting a three on the Falcons' first possession after halftime to push the lead to 27. 

Friends never looked back from there and were in firm control the rest of the way, including ending the game on a 17-0 run. Fittingly, McIver scored to begin that final surge over the final 4:47 that provided the Falcons with the final 44-point margin of victory that represented their biggest lead of the day. 

"It's good to find a rhythm and build a lead over an entire game," said Friends women's basketball head coach Dean Jaderston. "Sometimes when an opponent is missing a key player a team can let up but we did a good job tonight of keeping our focus and handling things at both ends of the floor." 

McIver led the Falcons with a standout performance, scoring a career-high tying 25 points while also contributing four steals on the defensive end. Rayland Garner had an efficient game with 14 points on six of nine shooting and adding eight rebounds. Taylor Jackson recorded another double-double of 12 points and a team-high 15 rebounds along with two blocks. Ella Brown also swatted two shots for the Falcons (10-6, 8-2 KCAC). 

Rashaan Smith led the Eagles (5-9, 3-6 KCAC) in scoring with 13 points, with Shade Richardson leading OKWU with five assists and six boards. 

The Falcons controlled the action on both ends, holding a whopping 60-31 rebounding edge and limiting  the Eagles to just 25.7 percent (19-of-74) from the field and 22.7 percent (5-of-22) from three-point distance. 

Friends will conclude its three-game homestand Wednesday evening (Jan. 15) vs. Southwestern for a 6 pm tip-off inside the Garvey Center.