COLUMBIA, Mo.— After winning its season opener at home on Tuesday night, the (RV) William Woods University women's basketball team returns to the court on Friday afternoon in the Cougars vs. Cancer Classic at Columbia College, as the Owls will take on University of the Cumberlands. Tip-off will start at 2 p.m.
The Owls (1-0), are coming off an 81-69 victory against Missouri Valley College inside Anderson Arena, as the Owls shot 45.8 percent from the field (27-of-59), 53.8 percent (7-of-13) from the three point arc and 80 percent (20-of-25) from the charity stripe.
After closing out the first half on a 8-2 run, capped off by a three-pointer from
Dennisha Rice with .58 seconds left, the Owls headed to the locker room with its largest lead of the half, at 35-27.
In the second half, the Owls knocked down some early baskets, as a two pointer by
Kennedy Volkart, a three pointer from
Blake French and two made free throws from Volkart, extended the teams' lead out to 42-31, with just over 14:00 minutes left in the game.
It was all WWU from there on out, as the team was even able to extend its advantage out to a game-high 19 points at 73-54 and they able to hold on for the 12-point victory.
Newcomer
Marissa Webb, a Poplar Bluff, Missouri, native, made an impact right away in her debut with the team, as she totaled a team-high 15 points on 5-of-6 shooting from the field and went 2-of-3 from downtown.
French finished the game with 14 points on 4-of-10 shooting, but went a perfect 5-of-5 from the charity stripe, while
Kendra Vernatti totaled a career-high 11 points on 4-of-6 shooting off the bench.
Julia Wells also added 10 points off the bench, as the Springfield, Missouri, native, went 3-of-4 from the field.
This will be the second year in a row that William Woods and University of the Cumberlands (0-0) meet at the Cougars vs. Cancer Classic.
Last season, when WWU was ranked No. 25 in the NAIA and UC was No. 20, the Owls defeated the Patriots, 81-72. The Owls shot 40.7 percent from the field, but were able to get to the free throw line 38 times and knock in 34 attempts for an 89.5 percent success rate.
French led all scorers in the game, totaling 18 points on 7-of-9 shooting, while
Destani Stensrud added 15 points, 11 of which came from the charity stripe.
Coming off an 19-11 overall record and going 13-5 in the Mid-South Conference, this will be the first game on the 2014-15 season for the Patriots.
The team lost three of its top four scorers, but does return Brooke Forsythe, who led UC with a team-high 15.8 points per game, while shooting 53.0 percent from the field, 87.1 percent from the free throw line and grabbed down a team-high 158 boards.
On Saturday, at 2 p.m., the Owls will take on Bethel College (1-0), who are coming off a 12-17 overall record last year, while going 6-12 in the Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference. The team does return its top two leading scorers in April Harpe and Lauren Ulrich, as Harpe averaged 13.6 points per game, while Ulrich added 11.8 points per game.
This year, the Lady Threshers, who like the Owls, won its season opener, as they defeated York College, 82-69.
The Lady Threshers were led by Ulrich scoring a team-high 21 points on 4-of-10 shooting from the field, but went 12-of-16 from the free throw line. Â Harpe added 19 points, while Taylor Durant and Mekale Chapple added 12 and 10 points respectively.
Fans make sure to stay updated on wwuowls.com for a full recap and score from Columbia, Missouri.
