FULTON, Mo.—The William Woods University women's basketball team will look for an impressive upset victory on Thursday night, as the Owls take on the No. 23-ranked Columbia College Cougars. Tipoff will start at 5:30 p.m.

The games' against Columbia College are sponsored by Cost Cutters, with a joint fundraising effort to assist SERVE, Inc. Cost Cutters of Mid-Missouri will raffle a $100 gift card. Proceeds from the raffle will be donated to SERVE, Inc.

The Owls (10-5; 6-4 AMC), are coming off a thrilling 61-56 road victory against Park University back on January 10^th. The team shot 34.5 percent from the floor and were led by sophomore Kennedy Volkart's 15 points on 6-of-12 shooting.

"Kennedy has had a lot of those strong types of games this year," said head coach Dan Chapla. "She is like a lot of young players with up-and-down play, as we are looking for more consistency and we know she can do it. She will be a huge factor for us against Columbia."

Junior Marissa Webb recorded her first double-double as an Owl, having 13 points and a game-high 10 rebounds, while senior Blake French and junior Nia Lateju added 10 points each.

"We found a way to win, even though we didn't play great in the second half," said Chapla. "I was proud of our freshman point guard Karinne Lane, who hasn't played a lot this year, but has been playing well in practice and she got thrown into the fire and did some really good things for us."

On the season, the Owls are scoring just under 70 points per game (69.9), while shooting 41.2 percent from the floor, 34.0 percent from downtown and hold a rebounding advantage of 653-524 through 15 games over its opponents.

Leading the way has been Lateju, as the Norwalk, California, native, is averaging 12.5 points, while hitting 44.7 percent of her shots from the field and 36.4 percent from beyond the three-point arc.

French, a St. Charles, Missouri, native, continues to shoot the ball well, as the senior holds a team-high field goal percentage of 53.4 percent, while owning an 11.5 point per game average. She is also shooting a team-high 85.0 percent from the free throw line and leads the Owls with 23 steals.

Volkart's performance against the Pirates moved her average back up to 9.3 points per game. The Russellville, Missouri, native, does lead the team in rebounds (90) and blocked shots (17). Webb, a Poplar Bluff, Missouri, native, upped her season average to 7.9 points per game on 42.9 percent shooting from the floor and 39.6 percent from the three-point arc.

After dropping three straight games earlier in the season, the Cougars (12-4; 8-2 AMC), are currently on a season-high eight game winning streak, including coming off a 69-68 nail biting victory over Missouri Baptist University last Saturday.

In that game, the Cougars shot 43.8 percent, while defensively, they forced 20 Spartan turnovers. Corri Hamilton led the offense, scoring a game-high 16 points on 7-of-12 shooting, while grabbing down a game-high nine boards.

Ashley Fisher shot 5-of-9 from the field for 14 points, while Kayla Washington added 11 points off the bench.

On the season, offensively, the Cougars are scoring 75.5 points per game, while shooting 41.8 percent from the floor, 74.5 percent from the free throw line and are outrebounding its opponents 622-561. Defensively, they are limiting teams' to 61.7 points, a field goal percentage of 35.7 percent and have forced 271 turnovers.

Through the 15 games, Hamilton is leading the offense, averaging 14.9 points on 48.6 percent shooting from the field. She has totaled double-figure points in 13 of the games on the year, while also leading the team with 104 rebounds.

Aqua Corpening is second on the team in scoring (13.6 ppg), while Fisher is posting 12.7 points and is draining 50.0 percent of her shots from the floor.

"Coach Jessica Keller has done a great job, as the team had to adjust to her early, but they have gotten a lot better in the last month in a half," said Chapla. "I think other than Freed-Hardeman, they are the best offensive team in the league, their guarding people as well, so it's not surprising at all what they are holding opposing teams to."

He added, "For us, it's going to be a question of whether or not we can score enough points, as that has been our issue since we got back from break. Columbia is a good team, I think we can compete with them, if we show up, we will play well."

Fans make sure to stay updated on wwuowls.com tomorrow night for a full recap and score from Anderson Arena.

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