WICHITA, Kan. – The No. 22-ranked Friends University Falcons got back in the win column on Senior Day with a dominating 96-65 victory over the McPherson College Bulldogs today (Feb. 14) inside the Garvey Center. The Falcons improve to 21-5 overall and remain in third place in the KCAC with a 15-5 league record.
Abigail Barr and KK Peeler each scored seven points in the first quarter as the Falcons jumped out quickly and doubled up the Bulldogs 22-11 after one period.
The Falcons continued to stretch the lead and got five points from Barr and a pair of threes by Katie Weiss that fueled a 16-2 burst for a 38-15 lead at the 7:03 mark of the second quarter.
Friends twice built the lead as high as 25 points before settling for a 48-26 lead at the break.
With the lead at a healthy 19 points, the Falcons opened the floodgates and used a 13-4 run to push the lead up to 28 at 71-43 late in the third quarter.
After the Bulldogs once again climbed within 19, six straight points from Barr and another three by Weiss ballooned the lead back to 28 with 4:19 left and the Falcons cruised to the win from that point.
The 31-point margin of victory represented the Falcons' biggest lead of the day.
"It felt like our team was back today," said Friends women's basketball head coach Dean Jaderston. "We'd had a couple of games where we played pretty flat. Losing our leading scorer this late in the season was a big blow. I think it took a little bit for the team to process their emotion and reset. Today the ball was back to moving and we had our energy back. Now we have to keep getting better as we get close to the post-season tournament."
Barr, one of five seniors recognized today on Senior Day, shined with a career-high tying 28 points and also had a game-high 10 rebounds. Lauryn McIver scored 17 points and recorded eight assists, while Peeler added 16 points and also delivered eight assists.
Amaree Henderson and Maizen Gillam each paced the Bulldogs with 24 points. Keny McCain had a team-leading six rebounds and Dana Imankulova led the team with six assists.
The Falcons shot 51.9 percent (41-of-79) from the field and dominated the action inside, outrebounding the Bulldogs 53-34 and holding scoring edges of 52-28 in the paint and 19-7 in second chance points.
Coming up next, the Falcons will wrap up their three-game homestand and play their final regular season game in the Garvey Center Wednesday evening (Feb. 18) vs. Southwestern College at 6 pm.
NOTE: The five seniors recognized during today's Senior Day ceremony were Abigail Barr, Dynika Pantillion, Jadyn Glasgow, Miranda Cagle and Rayland Garner.
