Box Score
COLUMBIA, Mo. -- The no. 23-ranked William Woods University women's basketball team could not hold an 12-point second half lead as they drop the American Midwest Conference final game to no. 15 Columbia College 91-83.
William Woods (25-6, 14-4 AMC) held a 64-52 advantage with a little over 12 minutes playing. From the point Columbia College (27-6, 17-1 AMC) closed out the game outscoring the Owls 39-19.
“I'm proud of our kids. It's really a heartbreaking loss for our club, I thought we had it around the 12-minute mark,” said head coach Dan Chapla. “Credit Columbia, they made a great run. They are a championship team. We didn't attack their zone well late in the second.”
A 29-point effort from Priscila Santos was negated by a 28-point performance from Columbia College's Lily Abreu. Santos drilled 13-of-19 shots to help William Woods to a 45.6 percent performance from the field.
“Pri has been fantastic for us all year. She is a difference maker at this level. We get her back next year and you can only hope it just gets better from here,” said Chapla.
The Owls drilled eight first half three-pointers, but only managed three in the second stanza as they finished the game shooting 11-of-29 from behind the arc.
Both teams provided an entertaining first half that featured a combined 16 three-point field goals. Neither team could gain a huge advantage, as neither squad could gain a lead bigger than seven points.
William Woods took an early 7-5 lead after a three-point basket from Ashlee Taylor, forcing Columbia to burn a timeout at the 17:25 mark. Out of the timeout, a Stephanie Copelin put back gave Owls a four-point at 9-5.
A quick 5-0 run by the Cougars helped them regain the lead at 10-9, but it was short lived as the Owls would go on a 5-0 spurt of their own to regain the four-point lead at 14-10 after the first five minutes of the first half.
Columbia took a 21-20 after a Lily Abreu trifecta. A pair of three-pointers by Julia Wells and Olivia Storjohann pushed the Owl advantage back to four at 25-21 at the 10:43 mark.
From that point the Cougars went on a 9-4 run and reclaimed a one-point lead at 30-29 after another Abreu three-pointer. Columbia extended its advantage to 32-29 after a pair of Julie Teeple free throws.
Coplein tied the game at 35-all after going 1-of-2 from the line and Destani Stensrud gave William Woods a three-point advantage at 38-35 with 4:30 remaining.
A pair three-pointer pushed the Owl lead to 44-38, forcing Columbia to take its second timeout of the half.
Santos gave the Owls its largest lead of the half at 48-41 with a second chance layup. The Cougars responded with a 5-0 run to pull the game back within one possession at 48-46.
The Brazilian drilled a 10-foot jumper in the closing seconds of the half to give the Owls a 50-46 lead going into the locker room.
Both squads hit a dry spell to start the second half, as neither team could break the scoring ledger. Stensrud ended that at the 17:53 mark by banking in a three-point shot to give WWU a 53-46 lead. The Owls would push the lead to 55-46, after a Copelin layup with 17:23 remaining.
William Woods pushed it lead to double-digits at 59-48 with a Santos jumper at the 15:41 mark. Santos drilled another jump shot to give the Owls their biggest lead of the game at 61-48.
Abreu went on a personal 4-0 run to bring the game back within single-digits at 61-52. Katie Scherder would convert on an old fashion three-point play to push the Owls lead back to double-figures with 12:38 remaining.
Columbia College pulled within six points at 66-60, forcing head coach Dan Chapla to burn a timeout at the 11:05 mark. Out of the timeout, the Cougars cut into the Owls lead even more as they brought it within a basket at 66-64 with 10 minutes left in the game.
Both teams would trade baskets over the next 3:11, with the Owls clinging to the 70-69 lead at the 6:53 mark. Santos missed a pair of free throws, but Taylor grabbed the rebounded and forced a foul, sending her to the line for a 1-and-1. The senior drilled both charity attempts as WWU held a 72-69 lead at the 6:50 mark.
Heather English brought the Cougars back within one at 72-71. Stensrud gave William Woods a 73-71 lead at the 5:20 mark after hitting 1-of-2 from behind the line.
Kaitlin Allphin tied the game at 72-72 with a bank shot from the corner with 5:09 remaining. Santos recaptured the lead for the Owls with a layup at the 4:10 point.
An English three-point play gave the Cougars their first lead of the half at 76-75 with 3:54 remaining. Teeple extended the Columbia lead to 77-75 after hitting 1-of-2 from the line. Teeple would then go back to the line at the 3:22 mark, but this time she drilled both shots to give Columbia a 79-75 lead.
Blake French pulled the Owls within one after a three-point basket on the next possession. Teeple would be called for a travel on the next Columbia possession, but William Woods could not capitalize as Stensrud would give the ball right back to the Cougars with 2:14 remaining.
Each team would trade a basket on their next possession, but Danielle Ingrum hit a three-point basket from the corner to give Columbia an 84-80 lead with 1:11 remaining.
French would miss a three-point attempt on the next possession, and English would give the Cougars an 86-80 lead with 27 seconds left.
Columbia iced the game as they went 3-of-4 from the charity stripe in the closing seconds, as they claimed the AMC title with a score of 89-83.
Santos' 29 points led all players in the scoring column. Stensrud scored a career-high 18 points, and Storjohann wrapped up the double-digit scoring for the Owls with 11 points.
William Woods will now play the waiting game as the NAIA National Tournament field will be announced on Wednesday. The Owls were a mainstay in the NAIA Women's Coaches Top 25 Poll all year and with their recent win at no. 17 Lyon College it should solidify the Owls chances to go to the tournament for the third consecutive year.
“I don't think a loss hurt us tonight. Our resume tells me that we should be in Kentucky next week. We'll just wait it out,” said Chapla.
The NAIA will announce the National Tournament brackets on at 7 p.m. on Wednesday. The tournament will be held in Frankfort, Ky. Check back with wwuowls.com on Wednesday for more details.
