[Women's Basketball] WBB Gameday Preview: Falcons host Tabor tomorrow night in KCAC "Road ...
The Lowdown: Tabor College at Friends University
Part of KCAC's "Road to Hartman" DH of the Week
Location: Garvey Center
When: Tuesday, Dec. 13 @ 6 pm
Broadcast: https://kcacnetwork.com/friends/
Radio: ESPN Radio 92.3 FM
Live Stats: https://bit.ly/3hk88x8
Flying with the Falcons: The Friends University Falcons are now 8-4 overall and 4-3 in the KCAC following their first home loss of the season to the University of Saint Mary Spires last Wednesday (Dec. 7) and then a 54-52 heartbreaking setback at No. 19-ranked Sterling College on Saturday (Dec. 10). Trailing by five with 7:33 remaining in the defensive struggle, the Falcons clamped down and held the Warriors scoreless for over a seven-minute span. That defensive stretch allowed the Falcons to take their first lead since it was 8-7 at the end of the first quarter. Buckets in the paint by Irie Razor (SR/Grand Prairie, Texas), Rayland Garner (FR/Kingfisher, Okla.) and Kassie Kinniburgh (JR/Valley Center, Kan.) handed the Falcons a 52-51 lead with 2:18 left in the game.
The Falcons then forced two more empty possessions by Sterling but couldn't capitalize, and the Lady Warriors finally broke their scoring drought with a three by Kali Briar with 25 seconds remaining that proved to be the game-winner.
Rayland Garner has quickly made her mark in her first season as a Falcon, leading the team and ranking third in the KCAC with 15.0 ppg. She is also second on the team with 6.4 rebounds per game.
Taylor Jackson (SO/Houston, Texas), last season's KCAC Freshman of the Year, has picked up where she left off last year with 10.8 ppg, a team-high 8.7 rebounds that is third in the KCAC along with a league-leading 2.9 blocks.
McKenzie Shippy (SR/Woodbine, Kan. ) is enjoying a breakout season offensively and is second on the team in scoring with 12.8 ppg, while Bridget Busbee (SR/Grand Prairie, Texas) (2.4 apg) and Gracie Sammons (SR/Aubrey, Texas) (2.2 apg) serve as the leading distributors for the Falcons.
Irie Razor has given Friends a valuable threat from beyond the arc, hitting 43.5 percent (10-23) of her three-point attempts that ranks fourth in the KCAC.
Scouting the Bluejays: The Tabor College Bluejays won 75-50 over Bethel College on Saturday (Dec. 10) to snap a brief two-game losing skid and move to 7-5 overall and 5-2 in the KCAC.
Zoe Rust is tops on the Bluejays in both points (10.2 ppg) and rebounds (5.3 rpg), while Ja'Neysha Hendricks leads the team with 2.1 assists on the season.
The Series: The Falcons bested the Bluejays on the road 75-65 in the first matchup last season to snap a five-game losing streak in the series. But Tabor bounced back to win 57-45 in Wichita to salvage a split in the season series and have now won nine of the last 13 meetings between the two schools.
Quoting Head Coach Dean Jaderston:
"Another huge game against a very good opponent. One of the toughest challenges for a team is to play as well as we did against Sterling and come up one basket short, then have to let that loss go and turn around and play another tough opponent right away. Tabor probably executes its offensive stuff better than anyone else in the league, so they're a big challenge to guard. We need to keep our defensive focus, but also figure out how to get a few more points. A win for us puts us in the thick of the conference race going into the break so we should be focused. It should be a great game."
Long-distance shootout: The matchup between the Falcons and Bluejays will feature the four leading shooters in three-point percentage in the KCAC. The Bluejays' sport the top three leading perimeter shooters in Teegan Werth (47.4 percent), Madie McCoy (46.4 percent) and Allie Ostermann (44 percent), with the Falcons' Irie Razor (43.5 percent) right behind in the fourth spot.
Make or Miss League: The Falcons are a perfect 8-0 when leading in field-goal percentage, but are 0-4 when being outshot by the opposition.
Just take me half the way: When the Falcons carry a lead into the locker room, they've won eight of nine games. However, the Falcons have lost all three times they've trailed at intermission.
She's always defensive: Picking up right where she left off last season, Taylor Jackson continues to be a major deterrent for the Falcons along the interior. Jackson won her second KCAC Defensive Player of the Week award this season and fifth of her career last Monday (Dec. 5). For the season, Jackson is third in the KCAC in rebounding (8.7 rpg) and leads the league in blocks (2.9).
Immediate Impact: The Falcons are getting major contributions from a pair of newcomers to the program in Rayland Garner and Irie Razor. In 12 games off the bench, Garner leads the Falcons and ranks third in the KCAC with 15.0 ppg. Meanwhile, Razor has flashed major potential from the perimeter, hitting 43.5 percent (10-of-23) of her three-point attempts that is fourth in the league.
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.
Tickets: Fans are able to purchase tickets for all home basketball games by clicking HERE.
Falcons by the Numbers:
Overall record: 8-4
KCAC: 4-3
Home: 6-1
Road: 1-2
Neutral: 1-1
When scoring:
Under 50 points: 1-1
50-59 points: 0-1
60-69 points: 2-2
70-79 points: 2-0
80-89 points: 3-0
90+ points: 0-0
When allowing:
Under 50 points: 4-0
50-59 points: 2-1
60-69 points: 1-1
70-79 points: 1-1
80-89 points: 0-1
90+ points: 0-0
When leading at halftime: 8-1
When trailing at halftime: 0-3
When tied at halftime: 0-0
When committing more turnovers: 3-3
When committing fewer turnovers: 5-1
When turnovers are even: 0-0
When leading in field-goal percentage: 8-0
When trailing in field-goal percentage: 0-4
When field-goal percentage is even: 0-0
When leading in three-point percentage: 5-2
When trailing in three-point percentage: 3-2
When leading in rebounding: 5-3
When trailing in rebounding: 2-1
When rebounding is even: 1-0
When leading in assists: 5-0
When trailing in assists: 3-4
When assists are even: 0-0
The Coaches:
Dean Jaderston is in his fourth season at the helm of the Friends University women's basketball program.
The program broke out under Jaderston last season, coming in fourth place in the KCAC for their best conference finish since winning the league in the 2017-18 season. The Falcons went 22-10 overall last year, marking the Falcons' first 20-win season since going 24-9 in 2017-18.
Jaderston coached a trio of All-KCAC performers last season, highlighted by KCAC Freshman of the Year Taylor Jackson.
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 men's basketball head 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 33 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.
Shawn Reed is in his 12th season as head coach of the Tabor College Bluejays. A three-time KCAC Coach of the Year, Reed has guided Tabor to three KCAC regular-season titles, five league tournament championships, seven NAIA National Tournament appearances and seven 20-win seasons.
Up Next: The Falcons will take time off for the Christmas break before resuming action on Dec. 31 at College of the Ozarks in Branson, Mo. The next KCAC matchup for the Falcons will be Jan. 4 at York University.