FULTON, Mo.—After seeing its seven game winning streak snapped on Tuesday night, the (RV) William Woods University women's basketball team will look to pick up a big win against No. 23-ranked Lyon College before the holiday break. Tipoff will start at 5:30 p.m.
The Owls (8-2; 4-1 AMC), are coming off a tough 91-58 home loss against No. 1-ranked Freed-Hardeman University inside Anderson Arena.
William Woods 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.
The Owls were down just 36-25 against the Lady Lions at the end of the first 20:00 minutes of play, but FHU put distance between themselves and WWU, as they came out on a 11-0 run to start the second half, taking a 47-25 lead and were able to go on for the 33-point win.
"Freed-Hardeman is No. 1 for a reason, but I was disappointed in how we came out in the second half, just from an intensity standpoint," said head coach
Dan Chapla. "We just hope to use that as motivation against a really good team in Lyon on Thursday."
On the season, the Owls are scoring 73.9 points per game, shooting 43.8 percent from the field, 37.2 percent from downtown and hold a rebounding advantage of 423-346.
Lateju, a Norwalk, California, native, is averaging a team-high 12.4 points per game, while shooting 46.8 percent from the field and is second on the team in rebounds (50). French, a St. Charles, Missouri, native, is scoring 12.1 points on 57.3 shooting from the field, while hitting 90.0 percent of her shots from the charity-stripe, which is fourth best in the NAIA.
Sophomore
Kennedy Volkart is posting 9.6 points per game, is hitting 44.2 percent of her shots from the floor and currently leads the team in rebounds (58) and blocks (10). Junior transfer
Marissa Webb is scoring 8.8 points per game, but does lead the team from the three point arc, draining 50 percent (17-of-34) of her shots, which ranks her fifth overall in the nation.
Destani Stensrud, meanwhile, is sixth on the team in scoring (6.0 ppg), but has dished out a team-high 36 assists. Â
Defensively, WWU has been stout thus far, as they have limited its opponents to just 60.5 points, a field goal percentage of 37.9 percent and have forced 174 turnovers through 10 games of action.
Last year when these two teams' met, the Owls won the first meeting 76-69, but fell in the finale, in a very defensive minded game, 52-47.
This season, the Scots (8-3; 4-1 AMC), won its fifth consecutive game on Tuesday night, as they defeated Benedictine University at Springfield, 98-39. The team shot 37.2 percent from the field and were led by Jamie Jackson, scoring a game-high 19 points on 6-of-8 shooting.
Tamires de Souza earned herself a career night, scoring 14 points and grabbed down a game-high 12 rebounds. Taylor Grigg was the final Scot to reach double-figures, as the guard totaled 10 points on 4-of-10 shooting.
On the season, Lyon is putting up 65.6 points per game and are led by Carina Jackson, averaging a team-high 12.7 points, while shooting 78.9 percent from the free throw line and has added 26 assists. Taylor Gaedtke is second on the team in points per game (11.5), field goal percentage (56.9) and rebounds (66), while Elliot Taylor is third on the team in scoring (9.2 ppg), but is shooting a team-high 58.9 percent from the floor.
The Scots are also an impressive team on the defensive side of the ball, as teams' are scoring just 55.2 points against them, shooting a mere 35.9 percent from the floor and have turned the ball over, 229 times.
"They (Lyon) are one of the best defensive teams' in the league," said Chapla. "They are not as talented as Freed-Hardeman, but they have a few kids who can do some damage if you are not aware. I do anticipate a low scoring game, as we are both similar teams'."
He added, "Lyon in my opinion out wills opponents in its games, as they are very aggressive and play really hard, so the biggest key for us though is can we match that."
Fans make sure to stay updated on wwuowls.com tomorrow night for a full recap and score from Anderson Arena.
