Taylor Falters in Christmas Classic Opener

Box Score

UPLAND, Ind. – The TU women's basketball team dug itself into a 32-19 halftime deficit and could not recover, falling to Holy Cross, 72-58, on Friday night at Paul Patterson Court.

TU struggled to hit only seven of its 30 shots (23 percent) in the first half to give Holy Cross the 32-19 advantage at the intermission. Becca Buchs provided eight important points on three-of-four off the bench in the opening half to keep the Trojans within striking distance.

Taylor's offense improved in the second half, converting 15-of-38 from the floor (40 percent) and 6-of-15 (40 percent) from beyond the arc. The Saints improved their shooting, too, however, hitting 52 percent (14-of-27) of their shots from the floor after halftime, compared to their 36-percent conversion rate in the opening 20 minutes.

The Trojans cut the lead to 11 in the opening moments of the second half, but a seven-to-zero run by Holy Cross quickly inflated the lead to 18 with 7:34 left in the third quarter. Back-to-back buckets by Keysha Streater gave the Saints their largest lead of the game, 45-25, with 4:20 remaining in the period, but TU scored eight-straight points to get within 12 near the end of the third stanza.

Kendall Bradbury began the fourth quarter with a deuce to bring the Trojans within 11 once again, but HC answered with an eight-point burst to make it a 19-point game. The Trojans never cut the lead to less than 10 points the rest of the way, resulting in the 72-58 defeat.

Bradbury led Taylor with 18 points and a career-high 16 boards, while Haley Stratman knocked down four triples on her way to 16 points and eight rebounds in her first career start. Buchs ended the night with nine points and five rebounds for the Trojans.

TU (7-8) will be back inside Odle Arena on Saturday at 2:00 pm, when it hosts Judson (8-7) to wrap up the Taylor Christmas Classic.