UPLAND, Ind. - The No. 24-ranked Marian University women's basketball team went ice cold from the field in the second half as the Knights dropped a crucial Mid-Central College Conference matchup to the Trojans of Taylor University, 56-52, at Odle Arena on Wednesday. The Knights fell to 15-10 on the season and 7-5 in the MCC.

Freshman Natalie Robinson (Wingate, Ind./Fountain Central) was the only player in double figures for the Knights with 10 points, including three from beyond-the-arc. Sophomore Rachel Kenney (Mooresville, Ind./Mooresville) had a game-high 11 boards for MU.

The Knights hit their first three shots of game to take an 8-3 lead over the first 2:34 of the game. Robinson buried two of her trio of three-pointers and senior Molly Lauck (Greenwood, Ind./Center Grove) sank a layup to stake the Knights the lead. The team would go on to shoot 42 percent (5-of-12) from three-point range in the half. MU managed to dominate Taylor on the boards, with 16 on both ends of the floor for a 32-12 advantage. With 4:52 left in the half, Kenney hit a jumper in the paint to give the Knights a 16-point lead, their biggest of the game, and put Marian up, 33-17.

Despite going into the locker room with a 35-26 lead, the Knights turned the ball over 13 times to Taylor's five, which would plague them in the second half.

Marian only shot 38 percent (13-of-34) from the field in the half, but it was good enough to top Taylor's 33 percent (9-of-27).

MU managed to start the second half off strong bringing their lead to 13 just over a minute into the half. However, Taylor cut the lead to nine with 17:42 to play, and the Knights would not see a double-digit lead again. The Trojans would go on a nine-point run to cut the lead down to two at 40-38 with 14:08 left in the game. The Knights would see their lead dwindle slowly as the Trojans shot 86 percent (12-of-14) from the charity stripe in the second half and finished 19-of-26 for the contest. Taylor took the lead with 1:09 to play and never lost it.

The Knights would turn the ball over 22 times for the game and shot just 19 percent (7-of-36) from the field. MU out-rebounded the Trojans by an amazing 57-38 margin, including 22 on the offensive end. However, the Knights could only capitalize on the 22 offensive boards to the tune of seven second-chance points.

MU returns home on Friday to take on Kuyper College in a women's/men's doubleheader. Tip is slated for 5 p.m. from the Physical Education Center. You can LISTEN LIVE and follow LIVE STATISTICS at www.muknights.com.