WINFIELD, Kan.—After having nearly a week off, the (RV) William Woods University women's basketball team will return to the court on Friday night, as the team participates in the Southwestern Classic this weekend. First-up is host Southwestern College tomorrow at 7 p.m., followed by Sterling College on Saturday at 1 p.m.
The Owls (2-1), are coming off a 1-1 record at the Columbia College Cougars vs. Cancer Classic, as the team fell to (RV) University of the Cumberlands, 58-55, in the opener of the Classic, but responded with a 70-58 victory over Bethel College in the finale.
In those two games, junior transfer
Nia Lateju led the Owls, averaging a team-high 18.0 points per game, while shooting 39.3 percent from the field, 80 percent from the free throw line and grabbed down 14 boards.
Senior
Blake French averaged 13.0 points per game and shot a team-high 52.9 percent (9-of-17) from the field, while another newcomer,
Marissa Webb, averaged 11.5 points and knocked in 50 percent of her shots from the field.
On the season, William Woods is putting up 68.7 points per game, shooting 39.0 percent from the field and 74.3 percent from the charity line.
Lateju leads the team on the year thus far, putting up 14.3 points per game, while French is averaging 13.3 points and Webb is third on WWU, scoring 12.7 points per game, but leads the team with a 59.1 shooting percentage.
"We know those three can score for us," said head coach
Dan Chapla. "For us the rest of the season, the key will be, can we find a fourth or fifth scorer, to go along with Nia (Lateju), Blake (French) and Marissa (Webb)."
Defensively, the team is limiting its opponents to 61.7 points per game, 36.9 percent shooting, has a rebounding advantage of 126-116 and has forced 58 turnovers. On the boards,
Julia Wells leads WWU with a team-high 19 rebounds, while
Kennedy Volkart joins Lateju with 18.
On Friday night, the Owls will take on a Southwestern College (3-1) team, which has won its past two games, as they defeated John Brown (68-62) and most recently College of the Ozarks (87-85).
"I think Southwestern is the best team we have faced so far this year," said Chapla. "They can score at all five positions, guard well, and if they were in the AMC, they would be a top five team in our conference no question."
On the season, Southwestern is putting up 77.5 points per game and are led by Jordan Hobbs, averaging 16.0 points per game, shooting 48.8 percent from the field and 48 percent from beyond the three-point arc. Montana Rickey is scoring 13.0 points per game, while Jessica Hobbs and Jana Reichenberger are averaging 11.5 and 10.0 points per game respectively.
On Saturday, the Owls will meet up with Sterling College (1-1), who have played two games on the year, as they dropped its season opener against College of Saint Mary (64-53), but responded with a 71-67 win over York College.
Leading the team this year has been Lori Dauer, scoring 16.0 points per game and shooting 44.0 percent from the floor. Jordin Greer is the final player putting up double-figure numbers, as she is averaging 10.0 points and hitting a team-high 53.3 percent of her shots. Allie Faul, meanwhile, is third on the team in scoring (8.0 ppg), but leads the team in the rebound department, having 14.
"Sterling has a new coach, but in my opinion, they are the one of the best teams in the Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference (KCAC)," said Chapla. "So this weekend we will get to play two very solid and really good teams'."
Fans make sure to stay updated on wwuowls.com tomorrow night for a full recap and score from Winfield, Kansas.
