The no. 20-ranked William Woods University women's basketball team wraps up its two-game American Midwest Conference home stand as they host Missouri Baptist on Thursday night. Tip-off for the game, presented by Red Weir Athletic Supplies, is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. The game is also bobblehead night at William Woods, the first 100 fans in attendance will receive a bobblehead of Screech the Owl.
The Matchup
The Owls come into Thursday's contest tied with Lyon College for second place in the AMC at 6-1. WWU has collected 15 wins to just two losses overall on the year.
Missouri Baptist is 3-4 in league play and is currently in a tie for fifth place with Harris-Stowe and Williams Baptist. The Spartans are 6-13 on the year and are riding a three-game losing streak.
William Woods has averaged 67.4 ppg on the year and have outscored its opposition by 12.1 ppg. Missouri Baptist puts up 61.4 ppg and has been outscored by an average of 4.9 ppg.
WWU holds the advantage in overall field goal percentage at .402 compared to the Spartan's .366. Both teams have struggled this year from behind the arc, but William Woods holds a .309-.278 edge from deep. The Owls have been more efficient at the free throw line holding a .711-.662 advantage from the charity stripe.
William Woods has grabbed more rebounds per game (44.5-39.5) than MBU. The Owls have been outrebounding teams by a margin of 7.2 boards per game, while Missouri Baptist is being outrebounded by 0.2 caroms per contest.
The Spartans have committed 18.6 turnovers per game compared to just 15.9 for William Woods.
Last Time Out
A pair of career-highs from
Olivia Storjohann (19 pts) and
Paige Stewart (13 pts) helped William Woods to a 75-66 AMC victory over Stephens College on Saturday afternoon.
The Stars would build a 14-10 lead early in the first stanza but the Owls were able to cut the deficit to 28-25 with six minutes left to play. A 14-4 run would help William Woods take control of the game as they took a 39-32 advantage into the locker room.
William Woods would build it's lead to a game-high 25 points at 73-48 with 4:34 left in the game. However, the Stars were able to pull the game back within nine points, but the Owls would stop any chance of a comeback as they took the 75-66 victory.
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 58-12 at home, good for a .829 winning percentage. In AMC play the Owls have been better, posting a 37-5 mark for a .881 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 five games and she is tied for the team lead in rebounding at 6.4 boards per game. Since conference play has started Scherder has elevated her game, averaging 7.1 caroms per game. The mark is the fourth-highest average in conference games in the AMC.
Super Sub
Junior
Priscila Santos leads the Owls in points per game (12.9) and rebounds per game (6.4) despite not making a single start this year.
The Brazilian guard is averaging 19.8 minutes per game and is shooting .440 from the floor. She has scored in double-digits in seven of her last nine games.
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, 4.6 rebounds and 4.1 assists per game.
Coming On At The Line
William Woods has broken out of its recent shooting slump from the free throw line as they have connected on 49 of 60 attempts over the last two games for a .816 success rate.
In last Tuesday's win over Williams Baptist, WWU hit 22-of-26 at the line and followed that up with a 9-for-10 performance at Park University on Thursday.
WWU hit 18-of-24 at the line in Saturday's win over Stephens College.
During the stretch,
Destani Stensrud has hit 15-of-16 from the charity stripe.
Taking Advantage Of Charity
Through 17 games the Owls are hitting .711 of the time at the line, the 15th-best pace in the nation.
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 three times and held teams under the 50-point plateau four times. WWU's margin of victory is 25th-best in the NAIA at 12.05.
WWU is currently ranked 13th in the nation in scoring defense, holding opponents to just 55.294 points per game on the year. The Owls are eighth in defensive field-goal percentage by allowing foes to hit at just .342 from the floor.
Balanced Attack
While the Owls have managed 67.4 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 12.9 points per game, but
Olivia Storjohann (9.2),
Ashlee Taylor (9.0),
Stephanie Copelin (8.6) and
Katie Scherder (8.2) 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, they have been held to just one 10-point scorer twice on the year.
Win Big, Lose Small
William Woods has posted good-sized margins in each of its 14 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.
Hitting The Glass
Ranked fourth in the country in defensive rebounds per game at 30.118, the Owls have definitely cleaned the glass well this year. WWU holds a margin of 7.176 per game on the year (20th) and like its offensive output; the Owls have seen the workload spread across the roster.
Katie Scherder and
Priscila Santos are tied for the team lead with 6.4 rebounds per game. Olivia Storjohann comes in third with 5.5 boards per game and
Stephanie Copelin is in fourth on the team with 5.3 rpg.
Julia Wells rounds out the group with her 4.5 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 Missouri Baptist
After starting the year 3-1 in conference play Missouri Baptist has suffered a three-game losing streak to see its league record slip below the .500 mark at 3-4. Overall MBU is 6-13 on the year.
Kristyne Smyth leads the team with her 12.4 points per game average. The 5-6 junior is riding four-game double-digit scoring streak and put up 20 points her last time out against Williams Baptist. Mandy Kirby is the only other Spartan in double-digits at 10.4 points per game.
Smyth has hit a team-high 17 three-pointers on 54 attempts, but Taylor Klingelhoefer leads MBU in three-point percentage at .333 on 15-of-45 shooting.
The Spartans collect an average of 39.5 rebounds per game, while giving up 39.7 caroms per game to the opposition. Haley Elders leads the team in rebounding with 5.6 grabs per game.
Missouri Baptist has been prone to turnovers this season as they average 19.6 errors per game.
