Alec Tebben | Echo
The Taylor women's basketball team got one win and one loss in the NAIA Showcase last weekend. The Trojans faced two ranked teams on a neutral court. Both games went to overtime.Taylor fell to Southeastern University on Friday, Nov. 23 by a score of 72-73. Southeastern had several players who transferred from Division I schools, so the Trojans knew they would have to play a defensive game. Rebounds would be important for getting to the offensive side of the court."It was a mentality thing," senior Lacey Garrett said. "We knew if one person was making mistakes that it was going to affect the whole team, so just having that mentality of everyone has to do their job, especially against a good team like Southeastern, and just able to stay locked in as we were, that's what kept us ahead of them for the first half."The Trojans' mentality dropped somewhat in the third quarter. Southeastern came back in the second half, outscoring the Trojans by 15 points to send the game to overtime. The Trojans fought back but were unable to secure the win.When the Trojans faced the University of Rio Grande the next day, they were eager to bounce back."After losing a huge lead like that, we could have just shut down the rest of the time we were in Tennessee, and just said, we're just not good enough to compete, but that's not true," Garrett said. "And so, we proved that against Rio, and we still made mistakes, but our mental toughness was there."The Trojans were able to get several of Rio Grande's players into foul trouble. This helped the Trojans, who are good at shooting free throws, gain an edge over their opponents.The Trojans also played a more aggressive game against Rio Grande. Rather than letting themselves grow comfortable, they pushed to get every next point."Everybody stayed mentally tough for the most part against Rio, and we went to battle, and we came out with the win," senior Kendall Bradbury said.
