FULTON, Mo. -- The William Woods University women's basketball team will face Park University for the third time this season on Wednesday, as the Owls host the Lady Pirates in the American Midwest Conference Quarterfinals. Tip-off for from Anderson Arena is set for 7 p.m.
William Woods (21-9, 14-8 AMC) concluded its regular season by winning five of the last six games to earn the AMC Tournament's fourth seed. The lone loss in season's final six games came on the road at No. 2 Freed-Hardeman University. The Owls dropped 71-68 decision to the Lady Lions to conclude the 2013-14 regular season. Despite the loss, Head Coach Dan Chapla believes his team is playing some of its best basketball going into the tournament.
"We've been playing a lot better basketball over the final three weeks of the season. We had an opportunity to beat the No. 2 team in the country on our home court, so we hope that we can turn our regular season success at the end of the year into postseason success," said the Head Coach.
A pair of seniors, Andraquay Quinnine and Katie Scherder, ended their final regular season on a high note, and they are hoping to leave a bigger mark for William Woods in their last AMC Tournament.
Quinnine recorded a career-best 27 points her last time out at No. 2 Freed-Hardeman. The San Francisco native averaged 14.6 points per game over her final eight regular season games. The guard hit the 20-point plateau twice in that span, as she ended her lone season for the Owls as the team's leading scorer with her 12.3 points per game average.
Scherder is closing her four-year WWU career on a high note by averaging a career-best 10.5 points and 7.7 rebounds per game this season. In the year's final four games the Bowling Green, Mo., native averaged 13.8 points per game, which included a pair of 15-point performances. Scherder had a career-game against the Lady Pirates in their last matchup by posting a career-high 22 points and a William Woods single-game record 25 rebounds.
"These two have been extremely important to our improved play," said Chapla. "We really needed them to step it up and be seniors down the stretch, and they did that. We need them to play well if we want to be highly competitive, and over season's final eight games or so they did that."
The Owls will host a Park University team (16-13, 13-9 AMC) that they split with during the regular season. The Lady Pirates earned a spot in the AMC Quarterfinals by defeating Stephens College, 60-36, in the Opening Round of the AMC Tournament last night.
As previously mentioned, the two team's spilt a pair of regular season games, with the home team taking each game. Both contests were highly competitive games, as the winning team pulled out a seven-point victory in both games.
"We have a very talented Park University team that we split with coming here tomorrow night. We have to be ready for them, they've knocked us off at their place so they have no fear in facing us. Its playoff time, upsets can happen and tomorrow night we have to take care of business or we will be one of them."
The Lady Pirates limped their way into the AMC Tournament, as they dropped three of its final five regular season games. The rough stretch dropped Park from the fourth seed to the fifth seed at season's end.
"Park will make you play fast," expressed Chapla. "They are a team that is extremely aggressive, whether they are in man-to-man or zone, they get after you and make you turn the ball over. We have to have fewer than 20 turnovers against them to have a chance tomorrow night. If we turn it over more than that it's going to be tough for us to come out with a victory."
Channell Mackey leads the way for the Lady Pirates with her 15.8 points per game average. The guard has been extremely tough on the Owls this season, as she is averaging 23.5 points in two games against WWU.
"We have to keep her out of the paint and make her take jump shots," said Chapla of Mackey. "She is a really good on-ball defender. There were a couple of times in both games against us that she took the ball away from us at center court and got an easy basket. She is very active on defense and always seems to have her hand in the passing lane."
William Woods leads the all-time series 39-4 after the team's spilt a pair of games in the regular season.
Check back with wwuowls.com for a full recap of this game.
