Season-Best Three-Point Accuracy Not Enough to Defeat USF

FORT WAYNE, Ind. – The Taylor women's basketball team (9-11, 4-6 CL) could not overcome a tough second quarter despite a handful of impressive individual performances in Saturday afternoon's 74-65 loss on the road against Saint Francis (11-8, 4-6).

TU came out of the gates firing and connecting on a trio of three-pointers – including back-to-back triples from Claycee West – and a converted and-one opportunity from Hope Custer to grab an early 12-7 advantage. Ava Henson hit her second of two treys near the end of the first quarter as Taylor led 22-21 after a frenetic 10 minutes of play.

The Cougars' length defensively made it difficult for the Trojan offense to find anything driving inside the paint, and Taylor's shots stopped falling with regularity in the second period as USF slowly built a 38-31 halftime lead.

Custer and Jillian Osswald hit two threes to open the second half for TU to cut the deficit to five points. The Trojans effectively got to the charity stripe throughout a back-and-forth period, and Taylor Westgate made it a one-possession game with 15 minutes remaining in the contest after knocking down a pair of free-throws.

Taylor trailed by nine points entering the fourth quarter at 56-47, but Custer was scoring at every level to keep TU in the mix with 14 points in a 13-minute span that stretched from the beginning of the third quarter until six minutes to go in the final period that made it 60-55, Cougars.

Henson found a groove driving to the bucket in the waning minutes and West knocked down another pair of deep triples with just over one minute remaining to keep TU within striking distance, but the Taylor defense could not get the stops it needed down the stretch.

Custer led all scorers in the game with 21 points, while Henson finished with 14 points. The two senior guards matched each other with a team-high seven rebounds apiece. West contributed 12 points on a season-high four-of-seven shooting from beyond the arc. Rounding those out in double figures on the day was Osswald, who had 11 points and team-highs with five assists and two steals.

The Trojans made a season-high 11 three-pointers in the game at a season-best 44.0 percent clip, but they shot just 33.3 percent inside the arc as USF controlled the paint on both ends of the floor.

TU returns home on Wednesday, Jan. 31, in search of a season-series sweep against Mount Vernon Nazarene (7-13, 1-9 CL). Tip-off is scheduled for 5 p.m. inside Odle Arena.