Written and Media by Brian Ehresman
[divide]
Senior center Coley Baker has been blocking shots on the basketball court since high school. Her defensive prowess in the paint was evident Saturday, November 21st, as her 7 blocks shut down any hope Millikin may have had for a victory in a 77-62 Greenville College Women’s Basketball victory.
“We really wanted to come back and just attack Millikin with a whole new game,” Baker, who added 21 points and 7 rebounds, said.
Greenville also rode the hot hand of junior guard Taylor Paulin. Paulin torched the three-point line, connecting on an incredible 8 out of 9 shots. She finished with a career and game-high 27 points. “Taylor Paulin was a huge contribution to our win yesterday, and was on fire from the three-point line,” Baker added.
After a tied first quarter, Greenville took a six-point lead into the half, thanks to 12 points by Paulin. Millikin cut into the lead heading into the fourth quarter with the Panthers clinging to a 52-47 lead. Greenville came out firing in the fourth and erupted for 25 points to break open a close game and coast to the victory. The win helped avenge a loss to Millikin in the previous season, and also allowed the Lady Panthers to close out the weekend with a victory after dropping a tough 56-52 contest to Elmhurst the night before.
“We wanted to lower our number of turnovers,” Baker said. Against Elmhurst, the Lady Panthers had 30 turnovers. They adjusted the next day, however, and took better care of the basketball, only committing 11 turnovers. Another key to the victory was the emergence of Baker, who was held to 7 points while playing through foul trouble against Elmhurst. Sophomore Laura Goodnight led Greenville with 19 points and 6 rebounds while Paulin added 13 points in the loss.
The games were part of the SLIAC-CCIW challenge hosted by Greenville College. The two-day event included Men and Women’s Varsity and JV games between Greenville, Elmhurst, Millikin, and Westminster College.
The Greenville Women’s Basketball team (2-1) travels to Lincoln on Tuesday, November 24th, to take on Lincoln Christian before the Thanksgiving break.
[divide]
