[Women's Basketball] WBB Gameday Preview: Falcons continue to jostle for KCAC position tomorrow ...

The Lowdown: Southwestern College at Friends University

Location: Garvey Center

When: Saturday, Feb. 5 @ 5 pm

Broadcast and Live Stats: https://kcacnetwork.com/friends/

Flying with the Falcons: After losing for just the second time in 12 games, the Friends University Falcons continued their road warrior mentality and defeated the Ottawa University Braves Tuesday afternoon (Feb. 1) 76-64 in Ottawa, Kan. The win is the Falcons' 12th away from home this season vs. just two defeats and improves their record to 19-6 overall and 14-5 in the KCAC. Following Tabor's setback to Avila University last night (Feb. 3), the Falcons move back into a tie for second place in the league with the Bluejays, with both schools a half game in front of Avila and Bethany College.

Carrie Lacy (JR/Victoria, Texas) leads the Falcons in scoring with 13.3 ppg, while Taylor Jackson (FR/Houston, Texas) is averaging a double-double of 12.8 ppg and a team-leading 11.1 rebounds per game that ranks second in the KCAC. Jackson is also second in the league with 3.2 blocks per game after setting the school's modern era statistical record for blocks in a season (77). Alexa Chairs (SR/St. Charles, Mo.) also scores in double-figures at 10.7 ppg, with Bridget Busbee (JR/Grand Prairie, Texas) delivering a team-best 2.4 assists on the season. LaShawn Sweet (SR/Omaha, Neb.) has found a rhythm beyond the arc and now leads the Falcons and is fifth in the conference in three-point percentage (38.6 percent).

Scouting the Lady Builders: The Southwestern College Lady Builders are 1-24 overall on the season and have dropped all 19 KCAC games.

Amanda Graddy leads Southwestern with 8.9 ppg and Sidney Dennis has a team-high 9.2 rebounds per game. Kewaysha Alsup has recorded a team-best 1.9 assists for the Lady Builders this season.    

The Series: After Southwestern was forced to forfeit the first matchup this year, the Falcons have now bested the Lady Builders in 12 straight meetings.    

Quoting Head Coach Dean Jaderston:

"This is a really fun time in our basketball season. There are five teams all within one loss or win of second place in the KCAC. Second place is huge, because it makes it easier to qualify for the national tournament, and it guarantees you home court through the conference tournament until the championship at Hartman Arena.  Each game we play the rest of the way is huge. Saturday is no different.  With a win we have an opportunity to separate a little from the pack and build some momentum into the final two weeks of the season."

Top of the Mountain: With three blocks in the Falcons' 76-64 win last Tuesday at Ottawa, Taylor Jackson set the modern statistical era record for a blocks in a season with 77 swats. Jackson has also twice broken the modern era single-game blocks record (nine) this season.

Check out Taylor in the Student-Athlete Spotlight

Peaking at the right time: The Friends University Falcons appear to be playing their best basketball heading down the stretch of the 2021-22 season.  The Falcons have won 11 of their last 13 games and have moved back into to a tie for second in the KCAC at 14-5 in the league along with a sparkling 19-6 overall record.

Road Warriors: The Falcons are 7-4 at home this season, but have hit another gear when playing away from the friendly confines of the Garvey Center. Friends is now 12-2 on the road, including winning 10 straight in hostile territory that features three victories over teams receiving votes in that week's NAIA Top 25 poll.

Boarding School: Controlling the interior has been a crucial component to the Falcons' success this season, as they're 14-1 when outrebounding the opponent, but are just 4-5 when trailing in rebounding.

Comeback Kids: Going into the locker room trailing is not an ideal situation for any team, but the Falcons have made the best of it.  The Falcons have won eight of 13 times that the opposition has held a lead going into the halftime break. They're also a perfect 10-0 when they've enjoyed a halftime edge and lost the only time it's been even at the break.

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: 19-6

KCAC: 14-5

Home: 7-4

Road: 12-2

Neutral: 0-0

When scoring:                                           

Under 50 points: 0-2

50-59 points: 0-2

60-69 points: 8-0

70-79 points: 8-2

80-89 points: 1-0

90+ points:  1-0

When allowing:

Under 50 points: 1-0

50-59 points: 7-0

60-69 points: 8-3

70-79 points: 2-2

80-89 points: 0-0

90+ points: 0-1

When leading at halftime: 10-0

When trailing at halftime: 8-5

When tied at halftime: 0-1

When committing more turnovers: 8-5

When committing fewer turnovers: 8-1

When turnovers are even: 2-0

When leading in field-goal percentage: 15-2

When trailing in field-goal percentage: 2-4

When field-goal percentage is even: 1-0

When leading in three-point percentage: 10-2

When trailing in three-point percentage: 8-4

When leading in rebounding: 14-1

When trailing in rebounding: 4-5

When leading in assists: 10-0

When trailing in assists: 7-5

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 19-6 overall record thus far in 2021-22. In his two seasons thus far, Jaderston has coached three All-KCAC performers.

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: The Falcons' road winning streak will be put to the test next Wednesday evening (Feb. 9) at No. 9-ranked and KCAC front-runner Sterling College. Tip-off will be at 6 pm in Sterling, Kan.