UPLAND, Ind. – The Marian women's basketball team traveled to Taylor for the Crossroads League opener Wednesday night and took down the Trojans 67-52. Marian is now 6-1 overall this season and 1-0 in conference play.
It was Taylor in the opening two minutes, scoring the first four points of the game before Abbey McNally got Marian on the board by scoring the next six points to give Marian the 6-4 lead. The two teams traded points for the next few possessions before the Knights went on an 8-2 run, all coming from Aliyah Evans to help her team take the 14-10 lead. The remainder of the quarter seemed to be all Marian as the visitors would end the final 2:34 of the first quarter on a 7-0 run, with buckets all coming from Evans, Sara Majorosova, Allison Bosse, and McNally.
Neither team could find the bottom of the net to start the second until the 8:50 mark when the Trojans hit a jumper to cut lead down to seven, but it was Tamia Perryman coming off the bench to the Knights some fuel as she hit the next two shots for Marian to give them the double-digit lead at 23-12. TU wouldn't respond until two minutes later, but once again it was Perryman answering with the steal that would lead to a layup on the other end. The hosts was able to knock down the last basket of the quarter with 28 seconds left, but it was Marian taking the 32-18 lead at halftime.
After outscoring Taylor 13-8 in the second quarter, Marian picked off where they left off to start the second half, with Bosse getting the first two points of the half to spark a 7-0 run through the first two minutes of action. The Trojan's Taylor Westgate came back with a jump shot of her own to end the run, but the Knights were still up by 16 at 39-23.
Taylor made a strong push in the last five minutes of the third quarter, clawing their way back to single digits after forcing seven Marian turnovers and dominating on the offensive boards, leading them to outscore the visiting Knights 19-13 in the quarter and cut the lead back to eight going into the final 10 minutes.
Leading 45-37, Marian got a pair of shots from McNally and Kenna Kirby to regain the double-digit lead. Taylor continued to put points on the board, but it was the Knights responding each time to the offensive threat put on by the home team. TU did see the lead cut back to nine at the 4:42 mark with the score at 57-48 after a made three ball; however, it was Kirby cashing in another jump shot from the top of the key to add to her eight fourth quarter points. Although Taylor made a second half push, Marian was able to keep the composure and close out the game with the 67-52 victory.
McNally led the charge for Marian with 16 points, while also pulling down eight rebounds. Evans had 14 points, four rebounds, and three assists, while Kirby posted an all-around stat line with 10 points, a season-high seven assists, and six rebounds. Perryman and Bosse each added nine points, while Bosse also corralled seven rebounds, and Majorosova scored seven.
The Knights will have the rest of the week off before returning to action on November 22 for another Crossroads League matchup as they host Spring Arbor at 7 PM.
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