The no. 19-ranked William Woods University women's basketball team returns home for a two-game American Midwest Conference home stand that kicks off against Stephens College on Saturday afternoon. Tipoff is scheduled for 2 p.m.

The Matchup
The Owls come into Saturday's contest in third place in the AMC with a 5-1 league record. WWU has collected 14 wins to just two losses overall on the year.

Stephens College is currently tied for eighth place in conference with Harris Stowe at 1-4. The lone win came against Benedictine University at Springfield (66-48) on Tuesday.  The Stars have lost six of their last seven games and are 4-13 overall on the year.

William Woods has averaged 66.9 ppg on the year and have outscored its opposition by 12.3 ppg.  Stephens puts up 57.6 ppg and has been outscored by an average of 6.2 ppg.

WWU holds the advantage in overall field goal percentage at .398 compared to the Stars' .338. Both teams have struggled this year from behind the arc, but William Woods holds a .295-.289 edge from deep. However, Stephens College has been slightly more efficient at the free throw line holding a .710-.708 advantage from the charity stripe.

William Woods has grabbed more rebounds per game (44.3-40.3) than the Stars. WWU has been outrebounding teams by a margin of 7.3 boards per game, while Stephens is being outrebounded by 1.3 caroms per contest.

The Stars commit 22.6 turnovers per game compared to just 15.6 for William Woods.

Last Time Out
A 12-point second-half performance from Priscila Santos sparked the Owls to a 59-46 win over Park University on Thursday night.

Despite a 4-for-4 (9 pts) shooting performance from Olivia Storjohann in the first half, William Woods trailed by two points at half to the Pirates.

The Owls launched a 16-7 run to open the second half, turning a 25-23 deficit into a 39-32 lead with 12:06 to play.

Destani Stensrud hit a three-pointer and found Santos for two to halt an 8-0 Park run that had pulled the Pirates to within 43-42. Defense took over for the Owls, as they would hold Park to just four points over the final nine minutes to claim the 13-point win.

The Anderson Advantage
Since the 2008-09 season, Anderson Arena has been a tough place for teams to come in and win. In that timeframe the Owls are 57-12 at home, good for a .826 winning percentage. In AMC play the Owls have been better, posting a 36-5 mark for a .878 winning percentage.

The Rebounding Guard
Junior Katie Scherder is listed as a guard on the roster, but her 5-11 stature has helped her pull down rebounds over smaller defenders. Scherder has collected double-digit rebounds in three of her last four games and she leads the team in rebounding at 6.8 boards per game. Since conference play has started Scherder has elevated her game, averaging 8.8 caroms per game. The mark is the second-highest average in conference games in the AMC.

Filling In Nicely
Since the beginning of conference play Destani Stensrud has filled in for the injured Ashlee Taylor. The sophomore guard has averaged 8.7 points per game, 5.2 rebounds and 4.2 assists per game.

Taking Advantage Of Charity
The Owls have been solid throughout the year, but battled a recent free-throw shooting slump. It seems to be over, as William Woods has been hitting at a .861 pace over the past two games. After knocking down 22 of 26 attempts against Williams Baptist on Tuesday, the Owls missed just one of 10 attempts from the line against Park on Thursday.

Through 16 games the Owls are hitting .708 of the time at the line, the 18th-best pace in the nation. Individually, Julia Wells is ranked 33rd with an accuracy rate of .769.

Wells battled her way into the national rankings with an 11-for-13 performance from the line against College of the Ozarks, Wells has shown that she's a big threat at the line, knocking down seven free throws in eight tries against St. Gregory's.

After being a mainstay in the national rankings over the first half of the year, Priscila Santos has seen herself float in and out of the top 50 rankings. The junior is hitting .727 on the year at the charity stripe.

Paced by a 10-for-10 run over the past two games, Destani Stensrud edges out Wells statistically at .781 for the year, but falls shy of the minimum make per game pace for national ranking. The sophomore has connected on 25 of her 32 trips to the line on the year.

Hard-Nosed Defense
Over the last few games William Woods has seen its offensive production edge lower, but its margin of victory has risen mainly because of shutdown defense. Since Dec. 4 the Owls have only allowed teams to score more than 57 points twice and held teams under the 50-point plateau four times. WWU's margin of victory is 27th-best in the NAIA at 12.25.

WWU is currently ranked 12th in the nation in scoring defense, holding opponents to just 54.625 points per game on the year. The Owls are sixth in defensive field-goal percentage by allowing foes to hit at just .337 from the floor.

Balanced Attack
While the Owls have managed 66.9 points per game on the year, there hasn't been a single player to key on to ensure success. Priscila Santos is the only Owl to average double figures with 13.3 points per game, but Ashlee Taylor (9.0), Stephanie Copelin (8.9), Olivia Storjohann (8.6) and Katie Scherder (7.9) are all within a basket of the 10-point plateau.

The Owls have not seen a game this year without at least one double-digit scorer, and on Tuesday they were held to just one 10-point scorer for the second time on the year.

Win Big, Lose Small
William Woods has posted good-sized margins in each of its 13 wins on the year, taking home victory by two possessions or more in each contest. The 37-point victory over Hannibal-LaGrange on Jan. 10 marked the largest margin of victory on the year.
 
Stock In Windex?
Ranked third in the country in defensive rebounds per game at 30.563, the Owls have definitely cleaned the glass well this year. WWU holds a margin of 7.375 per game on the year (20th) and like its offensive output; the Owls have seen the workload spread across the roster. Katie Scherder leads the team with 6.8 grabs per game. Priscila Santos comes in second with 6.1 boards per game, Olivia Storjohann is third on the team with 5.6 grabs per game and Stephanie Copelin is in fourth on the team with 5.3 rpg. Julia Wells rounds out the group with her 4.6 caroms per game.

Is That Right?
Although the Owls' rebounding performance against AIB College of Business is certainly a contender for the best in WWU history, it's somewhat of a rarity as the Owls scored fewer points than they grabbed rebounds but still won the game. Although out of the ordinary, it's not the first time that it has happened - but likely the first with such a large rebounding total. During the 2004-05 season, Western Baptist (now Corban University) outrebounded the College of Idaho 42-38 in a 40-38 win.

A Look At Stephens College
Stephens College currently stands at 1-5 in the AMC with its lone win coming at Benedictine University at Springfield (66-48). The Stars have lost six of their last seven games and are 4-13 overall on the year.

Jessica McConnell leads the team in points with 9.8 points per game. The 5-8 senior has averaged double figures in conference games with a 12.3 ppg pace and has been in double digits in eight of her last nine games.

Dana Heggermann (8.7 ppg) and Sam Stirmlinger (8.3 ppg) are both within a basket of averaging 10 points. Stirmlinger has connected on a team-high 18-of-61 from behind the arc, though Logan Blagg has the highest percentage from behind the arc at .405 on 15-of-37 shooting.

The Stars collect an average of 40.3 rebounds per game, while giving up 41.6 caroms per game to the opposition. Andie Young leads the team in rebounding with 5.2 grabs per game.

Heggermann has been tough on defense this season has she has blocked 19 shots on the year, good for 44th-best in the nation.

Stephens College has been prone to turnovers this season as they average 22.6 errors per game.

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