[Women's Basketball] WBB Gameday Preview: Falcons begin KCAC postseason journey tonight vs. ...
The Lowdown: Southwestern College at Friends University – KCAC tournament first-round game
Location: Garvey Center
When: Monday, Feb. 21 @ 7 pm
Broadcast: https://kcacnetwork.com/friends/
What's at Stake: With a win over Southwestern College, the Falcons would move on to the KCAC quarterfinals and host the winner of fifth-seeded Kansas Wesleyan University and 12th seeded York College Wednesday night (Feb. 23) at 7 pm inside the Garvey Center.
KCAC Women's Basketball Tournament Bracket
Flying with the Falcons: The Friends University Falcons got back in the win column following a three-game losing streak by knocking off the Kansas Wesleyan University Coyotes 59-54 in the regular season finale Saturday evening (Feb. 19) to earn the fourth seed in the KCAC postseason tournament. The Falcons, having won 20 games for the first time since the 2017-18 campaign, sport a 21-9 overall record and finished the season 16-8 in the KCAC.
Taylor Jackson (FR/Houston, Texas) leads the Falcons in scoring (12.4 ppg), rebounding (11.1 rpg) and blocks (3.2 bpg). Jackson's rebounds and blocks both rank second in the KCAC. Carrie Lacy (JR/Victoria, Texas) is right behind Jackson with 12.2 ppg and Bridget Busbee (JR/Grand Prairie, Texas) has recorded a team-best 2.4 assists on the season. LaShawn Sweet (SR/Omaha, Neb.) has come on as a perimeter threat and leads the Falcons while ranking third in the league in three-point percentage (38.4 percent).
Scouting the Lady Builders: The Southwestern College Lady Builders won for the first time in conference play with a 70-64 win over Ottawa University on Saturday (Feb. 19) and are now 2-28 overall along with a 1-23 mark in the KCAC.
Amanda Graddy leads Southwestern with 8.6 ppg and Sidney Dennis has a team-high 9.9 rebounds per game. Kewaysha Alsup has recorded a team-best 1.9 assists for the Lady Builders this season.
The Series: The Falcons were victorious in both meetings this season vs. Southwestern and have now won 13 consecutive matchups over the Lady Builders.
Quoting Head Coach Dean Jaderston:
"The playoffs are the best time of the year and it's great to be going into them with momentum after a big win over Kansas Wesleyan on Saturday. Now the pressure ratchets up another level but our team is ready. Each possession and each shot matters a little more, and each stop is bigger than the last one. We cannot afford to look past any opponent, so our focus right now is completely on Southwestern who is coming off their best game of the season. We have to take away their three point shooters, and limit them to one shot per possession. If we do that and play at our pace, we'll be in a great position to kick off the tournament with a big win!"
KCAC Tournament History: The Falcons are 14-17 overall in the KCAC tournament since the 2004-05 season. The last time they advanced to the tourney title game was in consecutive seasons from 2016-18, falling to Tabor College on each occasion. Last season, the Falcons were the ninth seed and won big 72-45 at eighth-seeded Ottawa University and then gave the top-seed Sterling College all they wanted most of the way before falling 71-60 in the quarterfinals.
Top of the Mountain: With three blocks in the Falcons' 76-64 win at Ottawa University (Feb. 8), Taylor Jackson set the modern statistical era record for a blocks in a season with 77 swats. She's since added 15 more blocks and now has 92 for the season. Jackson has also twice broken the modern era single-game blocks record (nine) this season.
Check out Taylor in the Student-Athlete Spotlight
Top of another Mountain: Taylor Jackson didn't stop with the modern-era blocks record, as she later set the modern statistical era single-season rebounding record and now has 322 boards for the season.
Boarding School: Controlling the glass has been a key ingredient to the Falcons' success this season, as they're an astounding 16-2 when outrebounding their opponent. But they have a record of 4-7 when the opposition records more rebounds.
Sharing is Caring: It's no secret that moving the ball and creating good looks leads is winning basketball and the Falcons are no exception. They're a perfect a 12-0 when they lead in assists, but have a losing record of 7-8 when the opposition generates more assists.
Sponsor Alerts: Friends University Athletics is excited to have Home2 Suites by Hilton back as an official athletic sponsor this season! For more on what they can offer, click HERE to visit their official webpage.
Friends University Athletics also welcomes Phoenix Home Care and Hospice as a sponsor this season! For more info on what they can provide, click HERE.
Tickets: Fans are able to tickets all home basketball games by clicking HERE.
Falcons by the Numbers:
Overall record: 21-9
KCAC: 16-8
Home: 9-5
Road: 12-4
Neutral: 0-0
When scoring:
Under 50 points: 0-3
50-59 points: 1-3
60-69 points: 8-1
70-79 points: 9-2
80-89 points: 1-0
90+ points: 1-0
When allowing:
Under 50 points: 2-0
50-59 points: 8-1
60-69 points: 8-3
70-79 points: 2-3
80-89 points: 0-1
90+ points: 0-1
When leading at halftime: 12-1
When trailing at halftime: 8-7
When tied at halftime: 0-1
When committing more turnovers: 9-8
When committing fewer turnovers: 9-1
When turnovers are even: 2-0
When leading in field-goal percentage: 17-2
When trailing in field-goal percentage: 2-7
When field-goal percentage is even: 1-0
When leading in three-point percentage: 12-3
When trailing in three-point percentage: 8-6
When leading in rebounding: 16-2
When trailing in rebounding: 4-7
When leading in assists: 12-0
When trailing in assists: 7-8
When assists are even: 1-1
In OT: 0-0
The Coaches:
Dean Jaderston is in his third season at the helm of the Friends University women's basketball program and has things clicking with a 21-9 overall record thus far in 2021-22, marking the Falcons' first 20-win season since 2017-18.
Jaderston brings a wealth of experience to Friends University, with over 30 years of coaching high school and college basketball (12 years high school, 19 years of college). A two-time KCAC Coach of the Year, Jaderston coached six NAIA All-America performers during his tenure at Sterling College and won two KCAC championships and one KCAC tournament championship. Off the hardwood, Jaderston also made a significant impact, overseeing a team GPA of at least 3.0 for 11 of the past 13 years. He also led three basketball mission trips to Panama.
Prior to taking over at Sterling, Jaderston served in the dual role of head men's basketball coach and assistant athletic director at Trinity International University in Deerfield, IL for five seasons.
He also spent eight seasons as both the head girls' basketball and head girls' and boys' tennis coach at Rosemount High School in Rosemount, MN, and 4 years as the head boys' basketball coach at Eastview High School.
Before venturing into the coaching profession, Jaderston was a successful college basketball player at Crown College in St. Bonifacius, Minn. He was a four-time all-conference selection while helping the team advance to four national tournaments. He also earned All-America and Academic All-America honors at Crown College.
He also competed in tennis for three years at Crown and was a two-time conference singles and three-time conference doubles champion.
Jaderston and his wife Julie have been married for 34 years and are active in youth and camping ministries. They currently serve as executive directors of a premier summer Christian family conference called Northern Pines of Minnesota.
He earned his Bachelor of Arts in History/Secondary Education from Crown College in 1989 and then completed a Master of Arts in Adlerian Counseling and Psychotherapy from Adler Graduate School in 1998.
Whitney Corley is in her seventh season as head coach of the Southwestern College women's basketball program. She served as the team's interim head coach for the first half of the 2015-16 before being named the Lady Builders' permanent head coach in January of 2016.
Corley spent the 2014-15 season as an assistant coach for Southwestern following a six-year stint as an assistant coach at Garden City Community College. At Garden City CC, Corley's primary role was perimeter player skill development, as well as general program development including recruiting, game planning, student-athlete academics, and film exchange. Corley also coordinated the highly successful GCCC summer basketball camps.
Up Next: A Falcon victory would propel them into a KCAC quarterfinal matchup Wednesday night (Feb. 22) against the winner of Kansas Wesleyan and York at 7 pm inside the Garvey Center.