Lady Trojans Advance to MCC Semifinals
February 24, 2009
The old adage, "the best offense is a good defense" proved to be true one more time Tuesday night as the Taylor women's basketball team locked down the Saint Francis offense on their way to an 84-66 victory in the first round of the MCC Women's Basketball Tournament.
Taylor (20-10) held Saint Francis to without a field goal until over seven minutes had ticked off the clock to start the game.
A Trojan interior defense led by sophomore Allison Reece and junior Bethany Ballard limited the Cougars' Marie Kauffman, the MCC's leading scorer, to just six points on 2 of 19 shooting from the floor. Ballard finished with a team-high 8 rebounds, while Reece led Taylor with 3 blocked shots.
"Our focus coming into tonight was 40 minutes of intensity and consistency," said Taylor head coach Tena Krause following the win. "We had some people really step up on the defensive end when we needed them to."
Paige Rudolph, who led all scorers with 21 points in the game, scored career point No. 1,500 with a shot in the lane at the 12:49 mark of the first half to give Taylor a 21-2 lead. By the end of the night, Rudolph had 1,512 career points for seventh on Taylor's all-time scoring charts.
All five Taylor starters finished the game in double figures, including 19 points from Nikki Kassebaum. Playing in her final game in Odle Arena, the senior made 3 of 4 from three point range to lead a Taylor team that shot 50 percent (6-for-12) from outside the arc.
After limiting the Cougars to just 24.2 percent shooting in the first 20 minutes, Taylor took a 41-27 lead to halftime. For the half, the Trojans shot 44.8 percent from the floor and 92.9 percent (13-for-14) at the line.
Saint Francis (15-16) showed signs of a comeback after the intermission, but the Cougars were never able to slice the lead to less than 10 points in the second half. The Trojan defenders held USF to just 32.4 percent from the floor in the game.
Taylor committed just four turnovers in the second half and a season-low 11 turnovers for the game. Continuing their trend as one of the top free throw shooting teams in the country, Taylor made good on 84 percent (26-for-31) of their attempts.
"We knew that defense and protecting the ball would be big keys in the game tonight, and the team executed well in both areas," said Krause. "This was a great team effort and it was good to see everyone get involved."
Posting her 16th double-double of the season, Jamika Banks led Saint Francis with 20 points and 11 rebounds.
Up next for Taylor is a trip to NAIA No. 12 Bethel (22-7), the top seed in the MCC Tournament. The MCC semifinal matchup will be played Friday night at 7 p.m. in Mishawaka, Indiana.