WALNUT RIDGE, Ark.— It was another strong defensive performance from the (RV) William Woods University women's basketball team on Saturday afternoon, as the Owls defeated Williams Baptist College 64-51 and earned its seventh consecutive victory.
The Owls (8-1; 4-0 AMC), limited the Lady Eagles (3-5; 2-2 AMC), to just 31.7 percent shooting from the floor, 27.8 percent from downtown and 50.0 percent from the free throw line.
Offensively, WWU shot 41.4 percent from the field and were led by sophomore
Kennedy Volkart, as the Russellville, Missouri, native, posted a career-high 21 points on 10-of-18 shooting and added a game-high nine rebounds.
Nia Lateju totaled 11 points and seven rebounds, while senior
Blake French and
Destani Stensrud contributed nine and eight points respectively. Stensrud also dished out a season and game-high seven assists.
Alisha Stone led Williams Baptist on the day, scoring a team-high 19 points on 7-of-18 shooting, while Megan Goza added 12 points.
The first 20:00 minutes of play were close throughout between the two teams', but early on, it was WWU jumping out to its largest lead of the half, at 14-7, after French drained a three-pointer at the 14:50 mark.
The Lady Eagles, however, responded with a 9-0 run over the next 4:00 minutes, taking a 16-14 lead. Volkart would hit her two point field goal on the teams' next possession to tie it back up at 16-16 and then the Owls would regain a three point lead, after
Paige Stewart hit a three-pointer, with just over 9:00 minutes left in the half.
The teams' would continue to go basket-for-basket, as the clock continued to tick down, and for the seventh time already, the two squads were tied up at 26-26, after Danesha Dillard made her two point shot in the paint at the 2:57 mark.
Then, with 2:12 on the clock, after grabbing down an offensive rebound, French was fouled on the play, putting her on the line and she came through, knocking in both of her free throws' and giving WWU a 28-26 lead. The team was able to hold onto its two point lead the final 2:00 minutes of play and head to the locker room with a marginal
advantage.
The Owls shot 34.5 percent in the first half and were led by Volkart's 11 points, while defensively, they held WBC to just 29.4 percent shooting from the field.
In the second half, the Owls offense came out on fire, going on a 10-0 run, capped off by Lateju hitting her two point basket after a Lady Eagle turnover, giving WWU a 38-26 lead at the 16:51 mark.
WBC, however, continued to battle and they were able to narrow the Owls advantage down to four (44-40), after Stone hit her field goal, with 13:16 remaining in the game.
William Woods would push its lead back out to nine (49-40), after
Julia Wells made her three point attempt. From then on it was all Owls, as they went on a 15-7 run over the next 7:00 minutes of play, taking a 64-47 lead with just over 2:00 minutes remaining and they never looked back, going on for the 13-point victory.
With the win, the Owls stay perfect in American Midwest Conference play, but will have a tall task in order in its next time out on the floor, as they will take on No. 2-ranked Freed-Hardeman University on December 16
th inside Anderson Arena. Tipoff will start at 5:30 p.m.
Fans make sure to stay updated on wwuowls.com next week for a full preview of the matchup against the Lady Lions.
