Box Score
HANNIBAL, Mo. -- The William Woods University women's basketball team has locked up the No. 4 seed in next week's American Midwest Conference Tournament, as they defeated Hannibal-LaGrange, 65-49, on Thursday night.
William Woods (21-9, 14-7 AMC) will now host a quarterfinal game against an opponent to be determined next Wednesday, as the Owls secured the tournament's No. 4 seed thanks to its win and Park University's loss to Missouri Baptist tonight.
For the second straight game, the WWU offense came out of the gate on fire as they hit 54.8 percent in the first half to take a commanding 30-point lead at the break. The Owls would cool down in the second half, as they finished the game shooting 42.1 percent from the field to score the 16-point victory.
Senior guard Katie Scherder was the lone William Woods player to score double-digits on the night with her 15-point performance. The Bowling Green, Mo., native was just one rebound away from a double-double, as she grabbed a game-high nine caroms.
Paige Stewart and Kennedy Volkart recorded 18 combined points off the bench for WWU in the victory, as they duo each posted nine points respectively.
It was a tail of two halves from behind the arc on Thursday night, as the Owls shot a blistering 55.6 percent on 5-of-9 from three in the first, but managed to hit only one of their 11 trifectas in the second frame. Conversely, the WWU defense was tough on the Hannibal-LaGrange shooters all night, as they hit just 1-of-7 from behind the arc on the night.
The Owls defense was spectacular once again on the night, as they were able to hold HLGU to 49 points. It is the third straight game that WWU has held its opponents under 50 points.
Morgan Winkler's 17-point performance led the way for the Lady Trojans, as the guard hit 8-of-11 from the field in the loss.
William Woods held a slim 6-5 lead after the game's first four minutes, but a Scherder three-pointer would ignite a 14-0 over the next four minutes to give the Owls a 20-5 lead. WWU pushed its lead a 20-points after a Stephanie Copelin basket with 6:25 remaining in the frame.
The Owls continued to build its lead as the half came to an end, and took a half-high 30-point lead into the locker room at 47-17.
WWU sustained its dominance early in the second half by building a game-high 32-point lead with 16:14 remaining in the game. The Owls maintained its double-digit advantage for the remainder of the half, as they were able to withstand a late Hannibal-LaGrange rally to score the 65-49 victory.
William Woods will conclude its two-game road trip on Saturday afternoon, as they travel to No. 2 Freed-Hardeman. Saturday's contest will be the final regular season game for both teams. The Owls will be looking to avenge a 39-point loss that they suffered at Anderson Arena to the Lady Lions. Tip-off for this contest is set for 2 p.m.
Check back with wwuowls.com for a full preview and recap of this game.
