WINFIELD, Kan.—The William Woods University women's basketball team won a thrilling game on Friday night, as the Owls defeated Southwestern College, 83-81.

The Owls (3-1) and the Lady Builders (3-2), were knotted up at 81-81 with .41 seconds left, after Catherine Cranmer made her two point shot for Southwestern and was fouled on the play. Cranmer, however, missed the free throw to give SWC a one-point lead, as Kennedy Volkart came down with the rebound, which allowed the Owls to take a timeout.

Out the timeout, Destani Stensrud made a big two point shot, to give William Woods a two point lead, at 83-81, with .03 seconds remaining. The Lady Builders had one final chance to win the game at the buzzer, but its attempt from beyond the arc missed and the Owls held on for the two point victory.

Multiple players contributed for WWU in the win, but the standout player was Volkart on the night, as she recorded her first double-double on the season, totaling a team and career-high 20 points on 8-of-17 shooting and also added a career-high 14 rebounds. Nia Lateju had another strong game, totaling 17 points on 5-of-13 shooting from the floor.

Stensrud finished with a season-high 12 points, while Blake French also added 12 points in just over 35:00 minutes of play. Dennisha Rice went 4-of-6 from the field, for a season-high 11 points, while Marissa Webb added eight points, but grabbed down a season-high 11 boards.

In the first half, the Owls jumped out to a 22-16 lead, after Rice made a three-pointer at the 12:11 minute mark. The Lady Builders would get back into the game, as Tiffany Rieger drained one of her four three-pointers, which tied it up for the third time in the half (24-24), at the 10:30 mark.

SWC would then retake the lead on its next possession, as Montana Rickey hit her two point shot in the paint, giving them a 26-24 lead. They would continue to maintain its advantage, as the Lady Builders were up 36-33, after Jordan Hobbs hit her two point shot, at the 4:25 mark.

That, however, would be its final basket of the half, as they went 0-of-3 from the field and had three turnovers, which allowed the Owls to close out on an 11-0 run and head to the locker room up 44-36.

WWU shot 47.4 percent from the field in the first half and went 5-of-7 from the charity line, while the defense limited the Lady Builders shot 36.4 percent on 12-of-33 shooting.

The Owls continued its hot shooting in the second half, as the team pushed its lead out to a game-high 15 points, after Rice hit a three-pointer, giving the team a 58-43 lead, with 13:34 remaining.

SWC was able to narrow the Owls lead down to five at 64-59, after Reiger hit both of her free throw attempts, but over the next three minutes, the Owls would gain its breathing room back, as they led 76-66 with 4:18 left on the scoreboard, after Lateju went 1-of-2 from the free throw line.

The Lady Builders, however, went on a 15-5 run to tie the game up at 81-81, but the Owls were able to secure the win, as Stensrud came through with a two point basket with just .03 seconds left and WWU was able to hold on for the victory.

William Woods finished shooting 43.5 percent from the field and 33.3 percent from the three point arc, while SWC shot 41.3 percent from the field. A big factor in the Owls victory on Friday night was its domination on the boards, as they out-rebounded the Lady Builders 48-32.

SWC had four players reach double-figures, led by Jessica Hobbs totaling a game-high 22 points on 8-of-16 shooting. Rieger added 14 points, while Courtney Watson and Cranmer contributed 12 and 10 points respectively.

The Owls will return to the court in the finale of the Southwestern Classic tomorrow afternoon, as they will face Sterling College. Tip-off will start at 1 p.m.

Fans make sure to stay updated on wwuowls.com tomorrow night for a full recap and score.

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