Lindsborg, Kan. – The No. 22-ranked Friends University Falcons battled back from a double-digit second half deficit to upend the Bethany College Swedes 80-72 tonight (Feb. 21) in Lindsborg, Kan.

Down 39-31 at the break and by as much as 12 in the third quarter, six straight points from Abigail Barr ignited a 12-2 spurt that brought the Falcons within a bucket at 49-47 with 3:22 left in the third quarter.

The Falcons trailed 54-51 at the end of the third period and promptly got two free throws by Lauryn McIver and a three from Katie Weiss for their first lead since it was 9-7 at the midway point of the first quarter.

After the Swedes briefly regained the lead at 61-60, a three by KK Peeler and consecutive buckets from Barr helped the Falcons stretch out to a six-point lead with 4:21 left.

With the lead standing at four, Barr and Peeler each scored to push the lead to eight at the 1:39 mark and the Falcons weren't seriously threatened from that point.

Barr led five Falcons in double-figure scoring with 20 points, while McIver posted a double-double of 16 points, 10 rebounds and a career-high six blocks. Peeler finished just one point shy of her career-high with 15 points, with Weiss adding 12 and Heaven Gilbert netting 11 points.

Becca Unruh paced the Swedes (16-11, 14-8 KCAC) with 20 points and Colbi Rignell chipped in with 13 points. Hannah Moss led Bethany with seven boards and a game-high five assists.

Friends was outrebounded 32-27 but outshot Bethany 49.2 percent to 39.1 percent.

The Falcons, now 23-5 overall and 17-5 in the KCAC, will be the third seed in the upcoming KCAC postseason tournament and will host sixth-seeded Sterling College on Wednesday (Feb. 25) inside the Garvey Center. Game time is TBD.