The William Woods University women's basketball team is on the road this evening, traveling to Evangel University. The Owls are looking to protect their 3-0 record as they travel to the Ashcroft Center in Springfield for a 7 p.m. tipoff.
The Matchup
The Owls come into Friday's contest with a 3-0 record on the 2012-13 season.
Priscila Santos and
Olivia Storjohann are both averaging in double figures for WWU on the year, with
Ashlee Taylor and
Stephanie Copelin just below the 10-point threshold.
Evangel has opened the season with three straight losses, albeit to two top-10 teams. Sierra McSpadden has driven the Crusader offense with 16.7 pts/gm. Emily Akins chips in 11.3 pts/gm for Evangel on the year.
National Rankings
Early in the year, the Owls have set up camp in the national rankings across a number of categories, highlighted by the fourth-best free throw shooting rate in NAIA Division I. WWU has canned 52 of their 67 attempts from the charity stripe for a .776 mark. The Owls also boast the 26th-highest average margin of victory (17.667) and the 27th-best field goal defense rate in the country, holding opponents to just .337 from the floor.
On the glass, WWU rates in five major categories: 28th in both defensive (29.667) and total (43.667) rebounds per game, 31st in rebounding margin (7.0), 41st in offensive rebounds per game (14.0) and 44th in rebound defense (36.667). WWU also shoots the ball well from 3-pt range, ranking 28th in the coungry with a .347 success rate from outside the arc.
The national rankings are certainly a team-driven effort, as the Owls have just three players ranked in the top 50 on the individual side.
Olivia Storjohann leads the three point shooting barrage for the Owls with a .545 success rate, good for 14th in the country.
Stephanie Copelin is 36th in the nation with an average of 1.33 blocks per game for WWU, with
Julia Wells ranked 39th with an assist/turnover ratio of 2.5 on the short campaign.
Balanced Attack
The Owls have definitely displayed a balanced mindset on the offensive end this year, as four players are averaging nearly 10 points a game or better.
Priscila Santos leads the charge with an average of 15.0 pts/gm in her role as first off the bench for WWU, with
Olivia Storjohann averaging 12.7 pts/gm, paced by 6-of-11 shooting from 3-pt range.
Ashlee Taylor (9.3) and
Stephanie Copelin (9.0) are just below the threshold.
Stock In Windex?
Through three games on the year, the Owls have grabbed an average of seven more rebounds per game than their opponents and have done so with a balanced rebounding corps.
Priscila Santos and
Olivia Storjohann have each pulled down 20 on the year, with
Stephanie Copelin grabbing 19 for per game paces of 6.7 and 6.3 respectively. In total, the Owls have five players on the roster who have each averaged four rebounds a game or better -
Katie Scherder and
Julia Wells pull down 4.7 and 4.3 per contest respectively.
Stepping It Up
One of the players that head coach
Dan Chapla looked to have a greater contribution this year is
Stephanie Copelin. Through three games, the junior has managed to do just that, as she has averaged 9.0 points and 6.3 rebounds per contest. She has averaged 29.0 minutes per contest in her junior season, well above her averages of 10.3/gm as a freshman and 5.7/gm as a sophomore.
Quick Look - Evangel University
After coming off a 10-18 (8-10 HAAC/5th) season in 2011-12, the Crusaders have struggled to a 0-3 record on the season. Evangel's losing margin of 13.667 pts/gm is somewhat deceiving, as most of that comes from their season-opening 86-53 loss to Oklahoma City University. That's not to say that Evangel has seen strong offensive outputs in their other games on the year, as the Crusaders have averaged just 51.0 points per contest on the year, behind a .348 overall shooting percentage. Evangel has struggled on the glass as well, mustering 30.667 boards per game on the year ans allowing its foes an average of 38.333, including a 29-51 deficit on the offensive glass.
Sierra McSpadden is the sparkplug for Evangel, averaging just shy of a double-double (16.7 pts, 9.0 reb) per game on the season, with Emily Akins adding 11.3 pts/gm. The rebounding contributions fall off sharply from McSpadden's average, as Jessica Rumfelt is the next-highest rebounder for EU with 12 on the year.
Gonna Let 'Em Understand?
WWU's 3-0 record marks the 15th time in program history and the third time under head coach
Dan Chapla that the Owls have gone undefeated in the first three games of the year. Chapla's 2009-10 and 2010-11 squads also started the campaign with three straight regular season wins, streaking to 12-0 records on both occasions.
Chapla doesn't hold the longest win streak to open the season, however. That honor belongs to Roger Ternes's 1991-92 squad, who opened the campaign with a 17-game streak. The first loss of the season came to Rockhurst University.
