WINFIELD, Kan.—After having its offense come through the night before, this time around it was the defense stepping up late, as the (RV) William Woods University women's basketball team forced a Sterling College turnover with just seconds remaining and the Owls were able to hold on for the 82-81 victory.
The Owls (4-1), were up 82-81 with 1:52 left on the clock, after Kelsey Strobel hit both of her free throws for the Lady Warriors (1-3). Both teams' defenses stepped up during the final minute of play and with .13 seconds left, Sterling College came up with a big defensive rebound, which allowed them to take a timeout with .07 seconds left in the game.
After WWU called a timeout themselves, the Lady Warriors inbounded the ball to Strobel, but her intended pass was taken away by
Paige Stewart, as she came up with a big steal defensively and the Owls were able to hold on for the one-point victory.
William Woods shot a season-high 51.8 percent from the field, with all five starters reaching the double-figure plateau. Leading the way on the afternoon was senior
Blake French, scoring a season-high 19 points on 7-of-9 shooting, while going a perfect 3-of-3 from downtown and 2-of-2 from the charity stripe.
Kennedy Volkart had another strong game offensively, totaling 16 points on 7-of-8 shooting, while
Marissa Webb contributed 14 points and five rebounds.
Destani Stensrud scored 12 points for the second consecutive game, while
Nia Lateju added 10.
At the conclusion of the tournament, Volkart and French were named to the 12
th Annual Tara Patterson Memorial Classic All-Tournament team. Â
After trailing 10-6 at the 17:02 mark, the Owls rattled off an 8-0 run, capped off by a Volkart two-pointer, to give WWU an early 14-10 lead at the 15:08 mark.
The team would continue to hold its lead, including stretching it out to its largest advantage of the half (six), after
Kendra Vernatti hit both of her free throw attempts, to give the Owls a 27-21 lead, with 8:46 left in the half.
Later, with 5:21 left, Lateju drained a three-pointer, which put William Woods up 32-28. Over the next minute, the Lady Warriors went on an 8-0 run, to take a 36-32 lead, after Jordin Greer made both of her free throws.
Sterling College was able to maintain its marginal lead the final 4:00 minutes and head to the locker room up 42-38, on William Woods.
Both teams' shot 53.6 percent (15-of-28) from the field in the first 20:00 minutes of play. Lateju led WWU with 10 points, while Allie Faul also contributed 10.
In the second half, Sterling College pushed its lead out to its largest of the game, at 58-48, after Hailey Davis hit her two point shot, with 13:41 remaining.
At the 10:55 mark, the Owls were still down 64-55, but then hit three consecutive shots from downtown, as French hit her three-pointer to cut the lead down to 64-58. Then, after a missed shot from the Lady Warriors, French struck again from beyond the arc, putting the scoreboard now at 64-61.
After another miss from the Lady Warrior offense,
Dennisha Rice was able to tie the game up at 64-64, off an assist from
Lindsey Cornelius and force Sterling College to take a timeout.
Out of the timeout, Faul made her two point basket, giving them a 66-64 lead with just over 9:00 minutes to go. Sterling College again held its lead for the next 6:00 minutes, but the Owls were able to retake the lead at 77-76, at the 3:08 mark, after Stensrud made both of her free throws.
The two teams' would flip-flop lead changes and tie on two different occasions, but it was the Owls still up by one at 82-81 with 1:52 left. After each team struggled to hit its shot, it all came down to one final play, as after gaining a big defensive rebound, Sterling had a chance to win the game, but Stewart came up with a steal, after an inbound pass from the Lady Warriros, which secured the Owls with the one-point victory and its third straight win.
The Lady Warriors finished shooting 50.0 percent from the field and were led by Lori Dauer with 19 points on 7-of-8 shooting. Faul contributed 14 points, while Strobel and Megan Stagner added 13 and 10.
With the win, the Owls move to 4-1 on the year and will return to the court on Monday November 17th, as the team travels to Macomb, Illinois, for an exhibition game against Western Illinois University. Tip-off starts 7 p.m.
Fans make sure to stay updated on wwuowls.com tomorrow afternoon for a full preview of Monday's game. Â
