BATESVILLE, Ark. -- The No. 25-ranked William Woods University women's basketball team wraps up its three-game American Midwest Conference road trip on Thursday night with a contest against Lyon College. Tip-off is set for 5:30 p.m.
William Woods (9-3; 2-2 AMC) picked up its first conference road win of the year its last time out, as they defeated Williams Baptist College 56-42 on Tuesday night. Andraquay Quinnine led the Owls on the night, as she picked up her first career double-double with a 21-point, 11-rebound effort.
Quinnine, who leads the AMC in three-point percentage, hit a game-high five trifectas in Tuesday's win, and her 21-point effort helped add to her team-leading 13.8 points per game average. The San Francisco native has scored double-figures in each of her last seven games.
WWU has struggled to score points on the road trip, as they are averaging 57 points over its last two contest, a far cry from the 71.2 points they have been averaging on the year. However, they were able to put up a strong defensive effort on Tuesday night, as they held Williams Baptist to a season-low 42 points, and held First-Team All-AMC selection Cheyenne Childers to just six points in a winning-effort.
Senior guard Katie Scherder has been dominate on the boards during the road trip, as she is averaging 13.5 rebounds in the two games. The 5-11 forward grabbed a season-best 14 caroms against the Lady Eagles, and she leads the team in rebounding with 7.9 grabs per game.
A key reason to the Owls success this year is its free throw shooting. Going into Thursday's game, WWU has recorded the second-best free throw percentage in the NAIA by shooting 78 percent. Quinnine is a perfect 26-of-26 from the line this year, yet does not have enough shots to qualify for national rankings. Destani Stensrud has tallied the 32nd-best free throw percentage in the nation with her 79.2 percent success rate.
Lyon College (6-5; 2-1 AMC) dropped its last contest at No. 19 Columbia College, 86-71. The Scots have struggled this season, as they started the year as preseason No. 22 in the NAIA Top 25, yet in the most recent Top 25 poll they did not receive a single vote.
Carina Jackson is the lone double-digit scorer for the Scots, as she is averaging 16.5 points per contest. The 5-10 guard has scored double-figures in all but one game this season, and has passed the 20-point plateau in five contest this season, including in each of her last three games.
Jackson leads a squad that is averaging 64.1 points per contest on nearly 40 percent shooting from the floor. Conversely, Lyon College is holding teams to 63.5 points per game, and is allowing teams to a 37.5 shooting percentage.
The Scots lead the all-time series 4-3, and won last year's season series 2-1. However, the Owls were able to upend the Scots in the 2013 AMC Semifinals by overcoming a 14-point halftime deficit to score the 83-69 victory in Batesville. Katie Scherder turned in a season-best 19-point performance, while Destani Stensrud tallied 16 points in the win.
Check back with wwuowls.com for a full recap of this and every game during the 2013-14 season.
