Trojans Fall to No. 16 Spring Arbor in Home Finale

UPLAND, Ind. – For the third straight game RV Taylor built a halftime lead, but Wednesday night's advantage slowly drifted away with an 80-59 defeat to No. 16 Spring Arbor. TU dropped to 17-10 (7-10 CL) following the setback, while Spring Arbor improved to 22-5 (13-4 CL) on the season.

Marissa Trout tied her career-best with 19 points in her second straight outing to lead the Trojans in scoring. The freshman went 6 of 13 from the field and a perfect 6 for 6 at the charity stripe where the Trojans finished an impressive 13 for 14 (92.9%) on the night. Emma Ancelet also reached double figures in her fourth start with 10 points, seven assists and five boards. Madi Allen and Quinn Kelly each chipped in seven points.

After digging an early hole with a 14-0 deficit midway through the first quarter, Taylor rallied to close the opening stanza on an 11-3 run over the final 4:37, as a Trout 3-pointer cut the deficit to six at 17-11 after one period. The run carried over into the second quarter as a three from Kelly, layup by Emma Fohl and jumper from McKayah Musselman made it a one-point game, with the Trojans outscoring the Cougars 18-5 over a seven-minute span.

The two teams exchanged baskets through the rest of the second period until the visitors moved in front by seven, leading 33-26 with three minutes until halftime. But Taylor responded again with another run and closed the first half on an 8-0 spurt, as free throws in the final seconds by Allen put the Trojans ahead 34-33 at the intermission break.

The Trojans shot 59 percent in the second quarter and outscored the Cougars 23-16 in the period with all eight players making at least one field goal attempt. TU racked up seven blocks and four steals on the defensive end to limit the Cougars before halftime.

After halftime, Spring Arbor quickly regained the lead with back-to-back buckets to open the third quarter, but Taylor remained within striking distance in a one-possession game.

The Trojans reclaimed the lead following the under-five media timeout on a layup by Celina Blount, which put TU ahead with just over three minutes, and a pair of free throws by Ancelet gave the Trojans a brief 46-45 lead.

However, this time the Cougars closed the quarter with momentum by outscoring the Trojans 11-3 over the final two-plus minutes to lead by seven entering the final period, 56-49.

Spring Arbor would keep the momentum the rest of the night as Taylor ran out of steam. The Cougars went up by double digits, 60-49, near the nine-minute mark to force an early Taylor timeout in the fourth quarter. The Trojans could not recover and played from behind the rest of the way as the deficit swelled. Trout's layup at the 7:43 mark made it a 10-point game with TU trailing 65-55, before the Cougars closed out the contest on a 15-4 run. Spring Arbor shot nearly 70 percent (19 of 28) over the course of the second half.

Ashely Weller led four Cougars in double digits with a game-high 20 points on 7-of-10 shooting. Haven Chapman added 15 points and seven rebounds, while Emma Smieska scored 13 points with eight boards. Leading scorer Megan Zeitz chipped in with 10 points.

Taylor shot 40.7 percent overall in the contest and just 11.1 percent from three-point range, while Spring Arbor knocked down 52.4 percent overall and 35.7 percent from deep. The Trojans had 16 turnovers – marking just third time this season that Spring Arbor's highly-ranked defense did not force at least 20 takeaways. The Cougars recorded only seven steals – nine below their season average.

RV Taylor will close out the regular season on Saturday afternoon when it travels to Mount Vernon Nazarene for a 1 p.m. matchup in Mount Vernon, Ohio. The Trojans, who are locked in as the No. 7 seed, will then await final seeding for the Crossroads League Women's Basketball Tournament to learn who their quarterfinal opponent will be next Tuesday.