FULTON, Mo. --The no. 22-ranked William Woods University women's basketball team will close out the 2012-13 regular season as they host rival no. 15 Columbia College on Saturday afternoon. The game will be senior night as the William Woods University program will honor its two seniors after the game.

The Matchup
The Owls come into Saturday's top 25 matchup winners of four straight, to push their record to 23-4. William Woods will finish the 2012-13 regular season in third place in the American Midwest Conference, they are currently 14-3 in conference play.

WWU completed a season-season sweep of Missouri Baptist on Wednesday night with a 72-51 victory. Priscila Santos collected 21 points in the victory. Over the last eight games the Brazilian native has averaged 23.0 points per contest.

Columbia College comes into Saturday's game ranked no. 15 in the NAIA Division I Coaches Poll. The Cougars are in a first place tie with Lyon College in the AMC at 16-1. The Cougars recently seen their 18-game winning streak come to an end by Lyon, but in their last game out they collected an 83-55 win over Harris-Stowe.
The Cougars won the previous matchup between these two schools, as they scored the 85-64 victory in Columbia on Jan. 26. Santos scored a game-high 22 points for the Owls that day, but it wasn't enough to overcome the hot-shooting Cougars.

Senior Day
After the game William Woods will honor Olivia Storjohann and Ashlee Taylor, who will be playing their last regular season home game in Anderson Arena. The two have enjoyed a quite a bit of success over their two-year careers at WWU. The combo helped the Owls win the 2012 AMC Tournament, and have amassed 46 victories in their two years.

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 62-12 at home, good for a .838 winning percentage. In AMC play the Owls have been better, posting a 41-5 mark for a .891 winning percentage.

Looking For Redemption
The Owls will come into Saturday's game looking to redeem their selves after suffering the biggest loss of the year in the 85-64 defeat on Jan. 26.

The normally tenacious defense of the Owls was nowhere to be found on that day as they allowed season-high 85 points; the second-highest total was 77 points allowed in the overtime loss to Lyon on Feb. 9.  

AMC Player Of The Week
On Monday, the American Midwest Conference selected Priscila Santos as the AMC Player of the Week. The 5-11 forward averaged 23.7 points in three games last week, including a career-high 29 points in last Thursday's win over Park University.

Tenacious D
Just like in the previous years under head coach Dan Chapla, the William Woods defense has been the foundation of its success this season.

The Owls are 13th in the nation in defensive field goal percentage allowing teams to shoot just 35 percent from the floor.  The 56.8 points per game allowed by William Woods is the 19th-lowest mark in the nation.

Picking Up The Pace
Over the last seven games William Woods has averaged 71.9 points per game. This is a 3.4 points per game increase over their season average of 68.5.

Incredible Run
Junior Priscila Santos has been on quite a roll of late. The 5-11 forward has collected at least 20 points in her last eight contest.

During the stretch the Brazilian native has averaged 23 points per game, increasing her season average from 13.0 to 16.1 points per game.

Taking Advantage Of Charity
Through 27 games the Owls are hitting 71.2 percent from the line, the 17th-best pace in the nation and the third-highest mark in the AMC.

Ashlee Taylor's 92.9 percent from the charity stripe leads the Owls, though she does not have enough shots to qualify for the national lead.

Balanced Attack
While the Owls have managed 68.5 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 16.1 points per game, but Olivia Storjohann (9.3), Katie Scherder (8.3), Stephanie Copelin (7.6) and Destani Stensrud (7.0) 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 double-digit scorer twice on the year.

Winning Big
William Woods has posted good-sized margins in each of its 23 wins on the year as they rank 23rd in the nation in scoring margin at 11.67. The Owls have won 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 seventh in the country in defensive rebounds per game at 29.59, the Owls have definitely cleaned the glass well this year. WWU holds a margin of 4.96 per game on the year (28th nationally) and like its offensive output; the Owls have seen the workload spread across the roster. Priscila Santos and Katie Scherder are tied for the team lead with their 6.4 rebounds per game. Olivia Storjohann comes in third with 5.3 boards per game.

On Dec. 30, Scherder collected 16 caroms against AIB. The mark is tied for the fourth-highest single game mark in the AMC this season.

A Look At Columbia College
The Cougars come into Saturday's game in a first place tie in the AMC with Lyon College at 16-1. Overall on the year Columbia stands at 23-6. Last Thursday, the Cougars had their 18-game winning streak snapped by the Scots, yet were able to recover as they scored an 83-55 victory over Harris-Stowe last Saturday.

Offense has been the key to victory this season for the Cougars, as they are the top scoring team in the AMC averaging 76.8 points per contest. The average also ranks as the sixth-highest average in the NAIA.

Lily Abreu leads a trio of double-digits scorers for Columbia with her 15.5 points per game average.  Abreu has scored in double-digits over her last three games, including a career-high 34 points against Missouri Baptist on Feb. 14.

Last year's AMC Player of the Year and All-American, Heather English, is second on the team with her 14.9 points per game average this season for the Cougars. English is first in the conference in steals collecting 2.8 per game.

Columbia is also the top three-point shooting team in the AMC as they average a 32.3 percent success rate from behind the arc. Tierney Siefert's 63 trifectas on her 40.1 shooting percentage led the team.

Voice Of The Owls
Returning to the broadcast booth this season is the duo of Darren Munns and Craig “Boomer” McAndrews. In addition to their coaching duties for WWU Baseball, Munns and McAndrews serve as the primary broadcast tandem for the Owls webcast.

Get Social With The Owls
In addition to the traditional outlets, fans can keep up with the latest news about William Woods Athletics via our social media channels.  Checkout our Facebook page (Facebook.com/WWUOwls) and twitter feed (@WWU_Owls).

Corporate Partners
Tonight's game is sponsored by Atkins Inc. Throughout the 2012-13 season, William Woods will take many opportunities to thank our corporate partners for their support both on and off the field for our student-athletes. Thanks to Atkins Inc., Central Dairy, Coldwell Banker Niedergerke & Co., Columbia Orthopedic Group, Cost Cutter of Mid-Mo, Jack's Gourmet Restaurant, Holiday Inn Express, Joe Machens Dealerships, Mid-City Lumber, Mo-X, PEAK
Performance, Red Weir Athletic Supplies, State Farm/Don Woodson and White Dog Promotions.

For more information on the WWU Corporate Partner programs, contact the William Woods Athletic Department at 573.592.1624.