WOMEN’S BASKETBALL

A doomsday second quarter for the Huntington women’s basketball team made for a hole the visitors couldn’t dig out of on the way to a 92-67 loss to #RV Taylor (15-3, 8-2) Wednesday night at Odle Arena.

Undeniably one of the best shooting teams in the country, the Trojans made that abundantly clear in the second quarter by missing just one shot which included putting on a clinic from long range. Behind Kayla Kirtley’s four 3-pointers, the hosts were a perfect 7-for-7 beyond the arc in the ten-minute segment. Not surprisingly, TU dominated the quarter, 33-14, to build a 53-31 lead by the midway point.

Taylor entered the contest leading the nation in total 3-pointers made (224) and ranking fourth in total scoring (1391). They average just over 13 made threes per game at a clip of .374 for the seventh best percentage nationally. On this given night, TU dropped in 18 threes at a rate of 60.0 percent while finishing within an overall shooting percentage of 61.8 (34-for-55).

Aside from the second quarter debacle, Culler and crew played within six points of the Trojans throughout the other 30 minutes. While neither team took care of the ball particularly well, HU had five fewer TOs than their counterparts who finished with 20.

Maddy Robrock carried her team in the first half. The sophomore center went off for 15 points on 7-for-10 shooting in the opening 20 minutes to establish a new career-best.  She, along with Sam Vaughn and Dazia Drake, collected a pair of blocks.

Emily Seboe added 11 points to go along with a team-high seven rebounds and four assists. Vaughn and Erica Zook chipped in eight points each while Drake and Logan Rowles tossed in seven apiece.

Kirtley, who collected six three-pointers by game’s end, topped all scorers with a career-best 24 points. Taylor Westgate also had a career night with 22 points off the bench in addition to pulling down a game-high eight rebounds. Three other Trojans in Lauren James (14), Ava Henson (11) and Madisyn Fisher (10) also finished in double figures for TU.

The Foresters (6-6, 3-5) return to Platt Arena on Saturday to host Taylor at 1:00 p.m.