WICHITA, Kan. – In a game that needed every tenth of a second to decide a winner, the No. 23-ranked Friends University Falcons held on for an 81-79 victory over the Kansas Wesleyan University Coyotes to snap a brief two-game losing skid and improve to 17-3 overall and 11-3 in the KCAC. The Falcons are currently in second place in the league, one half game ahead of Sterling College and 2.5 games behind conference unbeaten Evangel University.
With the game tied for the eighth time at 79-79, Lauryn McIver drove and hit a go-ahead shot with four seconds remaining to put the Falcons back on top.
But the Coyotes had a final chance and with .4 seconds left, Emma Gertken hit a three that initially gave KWU the win. But after a replay review, the shot was ruled late and the Falcons escaped with the win.
The Falcons had started fast and led by as much as nine points in the first quarter before KWU ended the period on a 10-2 spurt to come within one.
The second quarter would play out in similar fashion, with the Coyotes getting consecutive threes from Izzy McCool that ignited a 15-3 burst to end the half and put KWU in front 43-31 at the break.
Friends fought back strong in the third quarter and came all the way back behind a key sequence from Rayland Garner as the Kingfisher, Okla. native scored and then converted a steal into two free throws to cap a 16-5 spurt and tie the game at 55-55. A bucket by McIver then gave the Falcons their first lead since the 8:34 mark of the second quarter and Friends carried a 59-57 edge into the final period.
The Falcons looked poised to put it away in the early portion of the fourth when KK Peeler's career-high tying sixth steal of the night led to a score by Garner that stretched the lead up to seven at the 9:08 mark.
After the Coyotes battled back within two on three occasions, the Falcons again gained separation as Heaven Gilbert hit two free throws following a strong defensive board that made it 74-66 with 4:26 left in the game.
But in keeping with the theme of the night, Raegann McDonald exploded for 11 straight points to pull KWU even at 77-77 with 1:42 remaining.
Abigail Barr then scored to put the Falcons briefly back in front, but Odessa Ozuna drove for a layup as the shot clock expired to tie the score again ahead of McIver's eventual game-winner.
"It was a gutsy win tonight," said Friends women's basketball head coach Dean Jaderston. "We finally got our defensive intensity back in the second half. We also started moving the ball much better in the second half and as a result shot 64% from the field. Heaven Gilbert was big for us with a double-double in her first start since early in the season."
The duo of McIver and Garner powered the Falcons, with each scoring 19 points and Garner pulling down seven rebounds and McIver adding six boards and a team-high five assists. Barr scored 14, while Gilbert had a double-double with career-highs of 12 points and 12 boards. Peeler had seven points and three assists in addition to her career-high tying six thefts.
McCool paced five Coyotes in double-figure scoring with 18 points, with McDonald (17 points) and Gertken (15 points) each contributing heavily off the bench. Jocelyn Hall chipped in with 11 points. McCool and Gertken each had five assists, with Gertken also recording a team-leading six rebounds for the Coyotes (9-11, 6-8 KCAC).
Both teams shot well from the field, with the Falcons shooting 48.3 percent compared to a 47.6 percent clip for KWU. But it was the second half that the Falcons surged, hitting 64 percent from the floor after just a 37.1 field goal percentage in the opening half. Meanwhile, the Falcons were able to cool off the Coyotes to shoot 40.6 percent after halftime following a 54.8 percent clip from the floor in the first half.
The Falcons outrebounded the Coyotes by a narrow 37-34 margin, with a 42-32 edge in points in the paint. KWU held a slim 19-18 advantage in second chance points.
Friends will next play a pivotal KCAC game at the University of Saint Mary on Wednesday evening (Jan. 28) at 6 pm in Leavenworth, Kan. USM is currently just one game behind the Falcons in the KCAC with a 10-4 league record.
