Wilgers leads TC to win over ?Builders

Kayla Wilgers scores to give Tabor a 26-8 lead over Southwestern. Wilgers made seven three-pointers in the game and led all scorers with 26 points in Tabor?s 70-41 win.The 20th-ranked Tabor College women?s basketball team rolled to a 70-41 victory over Southwestern Saturday.

Kayla Wilgers anchored the effort with a red-hot performance, scoring 26 points on 9-for-12 shooting from the field, including 7-for-8 from beyond the arc. At halftime, Wilgers had more points than Southwestern did.

?Kayla?s very capable of doing that,? coach Shawn Reed said. ?If somebody gets hot, we?re just going to let them go, and I think that?s one thing that makes us special is we have enough people, somebody?s going to do that. Tonight it was her in an exceptional way.

?I?m excited for her and happy for our team that she had that kind of night and carried us through.?

Southwestern turned the ball over 28 times, compared to five for Tabor, which made the difference in the game.

Following an 8-8 tie early, the Bluejays burst to the end of the first quarter with 11 unanswered points. Amber Bonham made a free throw and a two-pointer, then Wilgers drained her first two threes in a 30-second span. Taylor Hurd capped the run to give Tabor a 19-8 lead.

Wilgers kept momentum going by draining her third trey to start the second quarter, and Tabor?s lead grew to 29-8 three minutes in. The teams matched each other?s scoring the rest of the half. Wilgers knocked down two more threes and a two-pointer in the final 4:35 on the way to a 19-point first half effort. Tabor led, 39-18, at intermission.

Tabor outscored Southwestern, 13-11, in the third quarter. Wilgers contributed seven points to the effort with two more threes and a free throw. Tena Loewen knocked down four free throws, and Morgan Ediger added a basket, giving Tabor a 52-29 advantage heading into the final quarter.

Reed cleared his bench, and the Bluejays enjoyed their largest lead, 69-34, when Dani Dowell scored with 1:14 to play. Tabor won easily, by 29.

?I think the one thing that makes my team different this year is we have enough weapons that one or two people will at least get hot,? Reed said. ?In the past, we had to rely maybe on one or two people, and if they had an off night, our defense would maybe hold us through, but it would be a really close game. Now we have enough offensive weapons that we?re able to extend that out a lot more often.?

Wilgers led all scorers with 26 points. Loewen was named KCAC Defensive Player of the Week.

Saint Mary?Tabor never trailed en-route to a 67-46 victory Thursday, extending its lead with a big fourth-quarter effort by outscoring the Spires 21-10.

?In the fourth quarter, we were able to get some easier buckets,? coach Shawn Reed said. ?We got a couple transition buckets. We got some shots at the rim. We were just able to run our stuff and be a little bit more productive.?

Taylor Hurd scored five of Tabor?s first seven points, including a three-pointer that gave the Bluejays a 7-2 lead. The Spires responded with a three-pointer before Tabor enjoyed a 7-0 run. The Bluejays led, 18-11, at the end of the first quarter.

Tabor took its first double-digit lead, 22-11, when Mallory Zuercher and Jurnee Reid scored consecutive baskets. Saint Mary trimmed the margin to six, and later to four, 25-21, with 4:47 left in the half, but Tabor closed the half on a 7-1 run for a 32-22 advantage at intermission.

The teams played evenly through the third quarter. Kaleigh Troxell and Amber Bonham each drained a three-pointer in the first five minutes of the period, but Saint Mary narrowed the gap to 38-30 at the 4:25 mark.

Nicole Decker scored twice in succession after that, then the Spires made four free throws in a row. Tabor took a 46-36 lead into the final quarter.

The Bluejays burst to the finish with a big fourth-quarter. Tabor outscored the Spires 16-4 to start the period, with Jurnee Reid and Tena Loewen teaming up to score 11 points during that stretch. Tabor led, 62-40 with 3:02 to play.

The Bluejays enjoyed their largest lead, 67-43, when Hurd drained a three with less than a minute to go, and Tabor went on to win by 21.

?That score is deceptive because I really felt like that was about a 10- or 12-point game, and then we just kind of blew it open,? Reed said. ?I think some of that is a credit to how many people we play. We tend to be pretty fresh at the end of games, and that helps us.?

Reid led all scorers with 14 points. Hurd added 11, and Bonham 10.

Coming?Tabor (9-0, 12-6) will host Bethel (2-7, 4-9)?Thursday at 6 p.m. The Bluejays will begin the second half of KCAC play at Ottawa (5-4, 6-10) Saturday at 5 p.m.

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