Box Score
BATESVILLE, Ark. -- Freshman Kennedy Volkart's 16-point performance wasn't enough to lift the No. 25-ranked William Woods University women's basketball team to a victory, as they fall 76-69 at Lyon College on Thursday night.
Volkart came in off the bench to register a new career-high, as she hit 6-of-7 from the floor, and added four points from the free throw line. Yet, the performance couldn't lift William Woods (9-4; 2-3 AMC) to a win, as Lyon College (7-5; 3-1 AMC) was able to hang on for its third victory over WWU in four chances since joining the American Midwest Conference last year.
"Kennedy played with a lot of confidence tonight," said Head Coach Dan Chapla of his post player. "She hit her first shot and really got on a roll there in the first half. We didn't get the ball to her enough in the second half, but you have to be really pleased seeing the kind of performance she put on tonight."
The Owls held an early 10-point lead, but a 17-7 run tied the game for Lyon. The Scots would eventually take a first half lead that they would never relinquish and took the seven-point victory. Â
"The first five minutes of the second half was the ball game," Chapla said. "They had a four point lead, and extended it to a 16-point lead within that time frame, and that left us chasing them for the remainder of the game. Credit Lyon, they did a great job on hitting some shots when we were trying to come back that really kept us down and out."
In a rarity, the Owls outshot LC in the loss, as WWU complied a 48.1 shooting percentage, while holding Lyon to a 47.3 success rate from the floor.
Coach Chapla said the three-point shooting was the difference in the game, as Lyon College went 7-of-18, including a 4-of-8 performance from the first half. While, William Woods hit just 4-of-16 from behind the arc.
"Lyon had some kids that really stepped up and hit some big three-pointers for them, and our guards were not able to respond. They had a player (Taylor Grigg) who went a perfect 3-of-3 from behind the arc, and we just hit four collective as a team."
Despite the loss, Chapla was pleased with his team's ball security and distribution, as his squad handed out 20 assists and turned the ball over just 10 times. Andraquay Quinnine led the team with a game-best five assists.
William Woods, who came into Thursday's contest with the second-highest free throw percentage in the NAIA, struggled at the line by hitting just 15 of its 22 attempts for 68.2 percent, nearly 10 percentage points down from its season average of 78 percent.
Volkart was just one of three Owls to hit double-figures on the night, as senior Katie Scherder collected 11 points, and junior Blake French tallied 10 in the losing effort. French and Scherder each collected a team-best five rebounds, as both teams finished the game with 30 rebounds apiece.
Conversely, Lyon College had four players post double-digits, led by Elliot Taylor's career-high 19-point performance. The 5-10 forward hit 5-of-8 from the field, and added nine more points from the free throw line, as she went 9-of-10 from the charity stripe. As a team, the Scots hit 17-of-20 from the line on the night,
The No. 25-ranked team in the country started the game hot, as they were able to build a 10-point lead during the games first five minutes. However, Lyon College battled back to tie the 21-21 after a Carina Jackson basket with 9:34 left in the half.
Each team would trade baskets over the next few minutes, as they were tied at 29-29, but the Scots closed the half on an 11-7 run to take a four point lead into the break at 40-36.
Lyon built a 10-point lead early in the second half, and would keep adding too it, as they took a game-high 16-point lead after an Alex Davidson three-point basket with 11:29 remaining.
William Woods battled back and got its deficit under single-digits with a Julia Wells basket, but they never got closer than six points, falling 76-69.
The Owls conclude its first conference road trip of the year at 1-2, as they picked up its lone win against Williams Baptist College on Tuesday and suffered losses to Park University last Saturday and to Lyon tonight.
"We had a long trip," said Chapla. "We feel like we've been in Arkansas for 10 days, but in reality it's just been three. We are looking forward to getting back home to take on a good Missouri Baptist team on Saturday. When the team's we just played come back to our place, we have to play better than we just did on the road trip."
WWU returns home for its third game of the week on Saturday afternoon, as they host Missouri Baptist University. Tip-off from Anderson Arena is set for 2 p.m.
Check back with wwuowls.com for a full preview and recap of this and every game during the 2013-14 season.
