Friends Forced to Fend Off Avila in Regular Season Finale

WICHITA, Kan. – Facing one of the top teams in the conference in their regular season finale, Avila women's basketball (9-19, 8-14 KCAC) put up a serious fight on Saturday afternoon against Friends, fighting down to the wire in an eventual 69-65 setback to end the season.

After the Eagles lost their previous two games by single digits, Saturday's regular season finale against Friends became a must-win game for Avila to have any shot of making the postseason tournament. A lot else would still have had to go the Eagles' way for them to sneak into the top eight, but this loss knocks them out of postseason contention in 2024. Still, Friends is safely a top four team in the league this season, and this type of performance reflects well on Avila's fight and mentality, even when their chances of qualifying were low.

Even against one of the better teams in the league, Avila was never once out of the game. The Eagles led 24-20 after one quarter, an unusual score for a game involving Friends, before the Falcons rallied to even things up at 37 apiece at halftime. Friends then took a four-point lead going into the fourth quarter, and the Eagles could not make up the difference, scoring just 13 points in the final period as Friends managed to fend off the Eagles' late push.

Morgan Wiseman was easily the story of the game for the Eagles. Avila has often employed her in games against Friends' stud center Taylor Jackson, and though Jackson certainly had her moments in this game Wiseman did as well. In easily her best game of the season and perhaps in her Avila career, Wiseman came off the bench and hit six of her 12 field goal attempts, including a couple of threes, to score a team high 14 points. Jackson, a legitimate KCAC Player of the Year candidate, dominated once again with 23 points, 17 rebounds, four assists and two blocks. Rayland Garner scored 16 for Friends; Marlie Wright had 12 points, eight rebounds and four assists for Avila while Madilyn Melton finished one point shy of a double-double with nine points and ten boards.

The Eagles certainly made strides from year one under head coach Remy Wolfe to year two, winning three more games in league play and four more overall this season. Four-year Eagles Cecelia Eddy and Daisy Washington, along with first-year Eagle Hannah Pinkston, are all expected to depart, but with so many new players playing a featured role this season expected to return, Avila will look to even brighter days ahead.