INDIANAPOLIS – Playing in front of a home crow, No. 6 Marian women's basketball got back on track Wednesday night by cruising to an 85-48 win over Taylor. The win snaps a two-game skid for the Knights as they improve to 24-4 overall and 15-3 in Crossroads League play.
Marian was the first to score as Jayla Wehner knocked down the midrange jumper before Abbey McNally and Ella Collier scored next to have a 6-0 run to start the game. Wehner and McNally got the hot start going for Marian as the two combined for 14 of the team's first 16 points to help give the Knights the 16-6 lead with 1:48 to go in the first quarter. The Knights got another bucket from Kinnidy Garrard before the Taylor ended with a three at the buzzer to trail Marian 18-10 after one quarter of play.
The Knights continued their efficient start by extending their lead to 14 after a pair of free throws by Tamia Perryman. Taylor ended the run with back-to-back buckets from Taylor Westgate before a few minutes later cutting the lead down to single digits at 27-18 with 4:29 to play in the second quarter. A triple by Collier and a fastbreak layup by Perryman put Marian back up by 13. The Trojans continued their fight but the Marian offense could not be stopped as the first half ended with Wehner canning the trey with 29 seconds left to take the 41-22 lead into the break.
Not only was the Marian offense functioning on all cylinders, but the defense by the Knights posed a problem for Taylor. The guests only scored six points in the third quarter while Marian erupted for 24 points. Taylor scored the first basket of the quarter, but then Marian took over at the 6:36 mark when Collier swished in the jumper to spark a 12-0 run over the next two and half minutes to grow their lead to 59-26. The Trojans put a stop to the run with a jumper in the lane before Allison Bosse came up with the steal, leading to her getting fouled and sent to the line. Bosse would hit the pair of free throws to end quarter three ahead 65-28.
Marian saw their largest lead at 71-34 with Kenna Gray hitting the layup at the 8:03 mark. Taylor put together an 8-0 run to cut the deficit to 29 points, but once again it was Gray draining the three-pointer with 23 seconds left to extend the lead to 85-47. The Trojans put together one more point in the final 18 seconds, but Marian the 56.4% from the field and 50% from three-point land proved to be too much to stop.
Three Knights scored in double digits with Collier leading with 18, while Wehner added 16 going 7-9 from the floor and 2-2 from three. McNally notched the double-double with 13 points and 12 rebounds. Perryman and Kenna Kirby came off the bench to score eight and seven points, respectively, while Garrard had six points and a team-high four assists.
Marian will be return to action on Tuesday when they host for the Crossroads League Quarterfinals at 7 PM.
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