FULTON, Mo.—The (RV) William Woods University women's basketball team suffered its first American Midwest Conference (AMC) loss on Tuesday night, as the Owls fell to No. 1-ranked Freed-Hardeman University, 91-58.
The Owls (8-2; 4-1 AMC), shot 40.0 percent from the field against the Lady Lions (10-1; 5-0 AMC), and they were led by senior
Blake French, scoring a team-high 15 points on 6-of-11 shooting. Junior
Nia Lateju contributed 13 points on 50 percent shooting (6-of-12) and added five boards.
Paige Stewart and
Destani Stensrud added six points, while
Julia Wells,
Kendra Vernatti and
Marissa Webb totaled four points apiece.
Freed-Hardeman, meanwhile, was led by Grace Alonso de Armino, as the forward posted up a game-high 25 points on 11-of-16 shooting and also added a game-high 16 boards. Leading scorer Hayley Newby totaled 23 points on 11-of-19 shooting from the field, while Kenley Crowell added 13 points off the bench.
In the first half, the Owls trailed by just three (13-10), at the 14:02 mark, after Lateju drained her three point attempt. Over the next seven minutes of play, the Lady Lions rattled off a 18-8 run, capped off by Alonso De Armino hitting her two point shot in the paint, giving FHU a 31-18 advantage, with just over 7:30 to go in the half.
As the clock continued to tick down, the Owls continued to battle with the Lady Lions and were able to go into the locker room on a high note, as Stensrud hit her two point shot, with just over one minute remaining, which cut FHU's lead down to 36-25 at the half.
The Owls shot 40.9 percent from the floor, with Lateju leading the way with nine points, while FHU shot 43.2 percent from the field, held a 22-15 advantage on the boards and were led by Alonso de Armino, who had 14 points and eight rebounds through 20:00 minutes of play.
Freed-Hardeman was able to put some distance between themselves and the Owls in the second half, as they went on an 11-0 run through the first two minutes, capped off by Alonso de Armino's two point bucket, giving them a 47-25 lead.
William Woods would narrow the deficit down to 18 points, after Webb went 1-of-2 from the free throw line at the 15:26 mark, but despite its hard fought efforts, WWU was unable to slow down a hot shooting FHU team, that shot 57.5 percent (23-of-40) in the second half, which allowed the Lady Lions to go on for the
33-point victory.
The Owls will look to get back to its winning ways on Thursday night, as the Owls will take on No. 23-ranked Lyon College inside Anderson Arena. Tipoff will start at 5:30 p.m.
Fans make sure to stay updated on wwuowls.com tomorrow afternoon for a full preview of Thursday night's action.
