Allison Reece scored a career-high 27 points and Becca Morris added 20 points to lead Taylor past No.4-ranked Indiana Wesleyan in a 74-69 overtime victory Wednesday night in Odle Arena.
"Allison has been a rock for us all season," Taylor head Coach Tena Krause said. "She's been consistent and she's been a leader. Every time out tonight she was encouraging the younger players and making sure everyone was doing their job."
The win by the Trojans (13-6, 5-3 MCC) snapped IWU's seven game win streak and gave the Wildcats (18-4, 7-1 MCC) their first conference loss of the season.
From beyond the 3-point arc, Taylor was a red hot 7 of 8 led by a perfect 4-for-4 effort from Morris, and Tess Rudolph finished 3-for-4 from long range. Morris is averaging 19.7 points over Taylor's last three contests.
Taylor held Indiana Wesleyan to just 39.7% shooting from the floor and 29.2% from 3-point land.
"We knew we'd have to mix up our defenses to have a chance tonight," Krause said. "You saw glimpses of what their man offense can do. It's just phenomenal, but we were fortunate to keep them off balance just enough."
Playing without top scorer Bethany Ballard due to injury, Taylor fell behind 9-2 to start the game before the Trojans stormed back to tie the score at 14-14 on a 3-pointer by Morris.
IWU regained the lead at 18-16, but Taylor reeled off eight of the next nine points capped by back-to-back 3-pointers for freshman Tess Rudolph in the span of just 47 seconds.
The Trojans lead increased steadily over the final six minutes of the half. Taylor's largest lead in the opening stanza came as the buzzer sounded with the scoreboard showing 42-29 in favor of the Trojans.
Reece went 9-of-9 for 19 points in the first half to pace a Trojans contingent that shot 66.7% from the floor in the game's first 20 minutes.
Taylor maintained a double digit lead for the first eight minutes of the first half until a Taylor Goshert basket in the paint kicked off a 13-0 IWU run that gave the Wildcats their first lead (55-53) since leading 19-18 in the first half.
Fast forward to 1:30 remaining in the game when IWU's Rachel Steinbarger knocked down a 3-pointer from the left wing to give the Wildcats a 64-59 advantage. Just 18 seconds later, Taylor freed up Morris for a 3-pointer from the corner and promptly slashed the IWU lead to 64-62.
"We picked that up from down south at Union (Tenn.) when we got beat on it," Krause said. "I said Becca ‘here's your chance.' She did a great job flaring off the screen and she was fortunate to knock it down."
Following a turnover by the Wildcats, Morris came up big again with a bucket in the paint to tie the score at 64-64. With the less than 10 seconds remaining, IWU drove the ball into the lane, but the Wildcats were denied before getting a shot off.
The first 2:17 of the overtime period was scoreless before Reece hit a pair of free throws to put Taylor up 66-64. Two more Reece free throws on Taylor's next possession gave the home team a four point lead, but IWU's Kayla Thompson hit a 3-pointer to pull the Wildcats to within one at 68-67.
Morgan McLeish scored on a layup to increase Taylor's lead to three, but IWU's Elaine Hessel scored in the paint to bring the Wildcats within one at 70-69 with 23 seconds to play. Two Taylor free throws pushed the lead to 72-69 and one final chance for the Wildcats to tie.
But Thompson's foot was out of bounds as she received a pass in front of IWU's bench. The play gave the ball back to the Trojans, who saw Reece finish off a 6-for-6 effort from the line in the overtime period to nail down the victory.
McLeish rounded out Taylor's double figure scorers with 10 points to go along with a career-high 8 assists. The Trojans' rebounding effort was led by Reece with 9 boards.
Ranked among the nation's leaders from the free throw line, Taylor once again proved their mettle from that distance by connecting on 17 of 18 attempts.
Hessel scored 24 points and dished out 6 assists to lead four Wildcats who scored in double figures.
