Elgin, Ill. – Down 35-24 at the half, Judson University (1-0) outscored Taylor University (0-1) 37-20 in the second half as the Eagles finished with a 61-55 win. This is the fifth straight season opening win for Judson and the longest streak for season opening wins in the history of the program.
Kirstin Johns (Belvidere, Ill.) and Marissa Marshall (Austin Texas) led JU with 12 points each. Alicia Rovertoni (Columbia, Ill.) led both teams in rebounding with 10. Bethany Ballard and Katie Madden each had 11 for Taylor.
Judson slowly worked their way back into the game in the second half. It was a combination of a dominating defense and key shots made. JU limited TU to just six shots made from the floor in the second half and forced 19 turnovers with 14 steals.
Down by 11 points at the half, JU cut Taylor’s lead to three, 37-34, by the 15:17 mark on two Marshall free throws. By the 11:50, they tied the game at 41 on a Kelly Freistad (Newark, Ill.) three-pointer and then took their first lead of the game, 43-41, at 11:18 on a Theresa Larson (Newark, Ill.) shot. In the first 10 minutes of the second half, JU outscored TU, 21-6 to take a four-point lead, 45-41, with 9:02 remaining. Pushing their lead to 10, 58-48, TU did not get any closer than the final score of 61-55. JU had two 10-point leads in the final three minutes of the game. JU’s defense was a big part in the second half by limiting TU to making just six shots from the floor and only one three-pointer.
Taking a nine-point lead in the first 10 minutes of the game Taylor hit 80% of their three-pointers and 90% from the free-throw line. They did not come out as hot in the second half cooling down to 33% from 3-point range and 58% from the charity stripe. TU’s largest lead in the first half was 13, 34-21, with jus 1:31 left in the half.
Finishing the game shooting 40%, Judson made 54% of their shots from the free throw line and only 20% from three-point land. Taylor finished shooting 43% from the floor, 62% from the three-point line, and 72% from the foul line.
For the game, JU forced 32 turnovers and stole the ball 22 times. TU had 10 steals and five blocked shots.
Judson will travel to Chicago to face Illinois Tech on Tuesday, November 6th, at 7:00 p.m.
