Eagles Fall to Bluejays on Senior Day

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Avila women's basketball (5-23, 5-17 KCAC) concluded the 2022-23 regular season by hosting Tabor (18-9, 16-6 KCAC) on Saturday afternoon in Mabee Fieldhouse. There, after a strong first half from the Eagles, the Bluejays heated up after halftime and pulled away for a 75-41 victory, spoiling Senior Day for Avila's four seniors.

Avila was in firm control to start the night. Kayla Navy, Kaytee Frasher and Emily Baldwin all scored to help the Eagles race out to a 7-0 lead a little over three minutes in, and the Eagles held the Bluejays to single digits over the first 10 minutes of play.

Hannah Smith kicked off the scoring with a three-pointer in the opening seconds of the second quarter, and Frasher followed with a bucket off a fed from Baldwin following a defensive board from London Foster, once again putting Avila in front by seven. Tabor rallied twice but Eireon Adams scored seven straight points to keep the Eagles in front, and a Daisy Washington steal in the waning seconds helped keep Avila ahead by four points at halftime.

The first half was truly tight – both teams shot the exact same field goal percentage in the first quarter, second quarter, and over the course of the first half. The difference was that Avila made three more free throws, helping the Eagles take a 28-24 lead into the halftime locker room.

Unfortunately for the Eagles, the second half was a different story. Tabor caught fire from the floor, and especially from downtown, in the second half, while the Avila offense stayed stuck in neutral. Tabor shot 0-of-6 from beyond the arc in the first half but shot 8-of-13 in the second half and 40% as a team. Kassidy Beam made two straight threes early in the third quarter to give the Bluejays their first lead and though Morgan Wiseman tied it up briefly Tabor quickly seized control and went on to comfortably win 75-41.

Madie McCoy hit four threes and led all players with 18 points, and Beam hit five threes to score 15. Zoe Rust added eight points and nine rebounds. Baldwin and Frasher tied for team lead with 11 points; Frasher also chipped in in six boards, three assists and two steals.

It's no secret the 2022-23 season was a challenging one for Avila women's basketball, but the rebuilding Eagles showed serious signs of improvement as the year went on – a great sign for head coach Remy Wolfe who now has a full season of experience as a collegiate head coach under her belt. The Eagles will lose the talents of four multi-year contributors – Navy, Foster, Baldwin and Frasher – but will look to restock and improve heading into a promising future in fall of 2023.