FULTON, Mo.— After being on the road the past five games, the (RV) William Woods University women's basketball team returns to Anderson Arena on Saturday afternoon, as the Owls play host to Benedictine University at Springfield. Tipoff will start at 2 p.m.
The Owls (5-1; 1-0 AMC), picked up its first American Midwest Conference (AMC) victory on Thursday night, as the team held Stephens College to just 21.1 percent shooting from the floor and they were able to go on for the 76-30 victory.
William Woods shot 44.3 percent from the field and 47.1 percent from the three-point arc, while defensively they held the Stars to a season-low 30 points.
On offense, 13 different Owls totaled at least two points in the game and were led by
Veronica Jones, as the Fulton, Missouri, native, scored a career-high 17 points on 6-of-13 shooting.
Nia Lateju,
Marissa Webb and
Lindsey Cornelius each contributed eight points, while
Julia Wells added six.
Blake French,
Kendra Vernatti and
Karinne Lane, meanwhile, totaled five points apiece. On the boards, WWU outrebounded Stephens 56-31, with
Grace Wade leading the way with a career-high nine rebounds.
Cornelius contributed eight, while Vernatti grabbed down seven, which are also career-high marks for the duo.
With the win, the Owls have won four straight games, with its last defeat coming at the hands of (RV) University of the Cumberlands, 58-55 in the Columbia College vs. Cancer Classic back on November 7
th.
During the last four outings, on offense, the Owls have scored 77.8 points, shot 44.4 percent from the field, 37.7 percent from downtown, have outrebounded its opponents 171-134 and forced 75 turnovers on defense.
Lateju has led the Owls as of late, averaging 13.8 points on 51.4 percent shooting (19-of-37). French is hitting a team-high 56.3 percent of her shots from the field, while owning a 12.8 point per game average the last four games.
Webb, a Poplar Bluff, Missouri, native, is third on the Owls in scoring (10.8 ppg) and has grabbed down 21 rebounds, while
Kennedy Volkart is putting up 10.0 points on 54.8 percent shooting from the field and leads the team with 22 rebounds.
On the season, WWU is averaging 74.5 points and are led by the trio of Lateju (13.0 ppg), French (12.7 ppg) and Webb (11.3 ppg). Volkart is scoring just under 10.0 points (9.3 ppg), while
Destani Stensrud is scoring 6.5 points per game and leads the Owls with 20 assists.
Last year when these two teams' met, WWU won the first meeting 88-55 and then responded with another 85-47 impressive victory over the Bulldogs. Â
This year, Benedictine University at Springfield (0-1; 0-1 AMC) is coming off an 88-41 loss in its season opener against Missouri Baptist University on Thursday night.
Leading the way for the Bulldogs was Johynn-a Evans having 18 points on 8-of-19 shooting and totaled a team-high nine rebounds in 28:48 minutes of play. Lindsay Taylor added six off the bench, while Laura Brenneisen contributed five points.
Fans make sure to stay updated on wwuowls.com tomorrow night for a full recap and score from Anderson Arena.
