FULTON, Mo.—Coming off an impressive 84-72 victory over No. 23-ranked Columbia College on Thursday night, the William Woods University women's basketball team will look for its fourth win in a row on Saturday, as the Owls host Missouri Baptist University. Tip off will start at 2 p.m.
At halftime of the women's game against the Spartans, the Owls will be inducting Ashley Morgan, Saysha Sappenfield-Nevins and
Tracy Gastineau into the William Woods University Athletics Hall of Fame.
The Owls (11-5; 7-4 AMC), picked up an important American Midwest Conference (AMC) victory against the Cougars, as the team finished the night shooting 46.3 percent from the floor, 37.5 percent from downtown and 71.4 percent from the charity-stripe.
Leading the way in front of the capacity crowd was senior guard
Dennisha Rice, as the Poplar Bluff, Missouri, native, scored a game and career-high 24 points on 6-of-9 shooting from the floor, while also going 4-of-6 from downtown and 8-of-10 from the free throw line.
Senior
Blake French added another impressive game to her resume, as she tallied 20 points on 7-of-11 shooting, while
Kennedy Volkart and
Marissa Webb each added 10 points.
After losing four straight games, the team has responded with a three-game winning streak, as they are posting 72.3 points per game, while shooting 39.9 percent from the floor and are outrebounding its opponents 154-94.
Defensively, the Owls are holding teams' to just 53.0 points, a field goal percentage of 32.2 percent and have forced 51 turnovers.
During the last three games, French has paced the offense, averaging 10.7 points on 45.8 percent shooting from the floor. Rice's career-night against Columbia, meanwhile, moved her average up to 10.3 points per game and is shooting a team-high 47.4 percent from the floor and 45.5 percent from downtown.
On the season, the Owls are posting 70.8 points, while hitting 41.5 percent of its shots from the floor and are outrebounding its opponents 701-560.
Junior
Nia Lateju is leading the offense thus far, averaging 12.1 points on 44.9 percent shooting and is second on the team in rebounds (92). French is right behind Lateju, scoring 12.0 points per game, while nailing a team-high 54.3 percent of her shots from the floor and 79.6 percent from the charity-stripe.
Volkart is scoring just under 10 points (9.4 ppg), but continues to lead the team in rebounds (99) and blocked shots (21), while junior
Marissa Webb is averaging 8.0 points per game.
Missouri Baptist (4-10; 4-6 AMC), is coming off a 64-41 victory over Stephens College in its last time out, which snapped the teams' two-game skid.
The Spartans shot 43.6 percent from the floor and were led by Morgan Settle scoring a game-high 19 points on 6-of-10 shooting, while adding eight boards. Kennedy Smith was the second Spartan to reach double-figures, as the forward added 10 points and a game-high 11 rebounds.
On the season, MBU, is scoring 67.2 points, while shooting 43.9 percent from the floor and are led by Taylor Klingelhoefer's 14.6 points per game. The junior guard is shooting 40.7 percent from the field and 86.5 percent from the free throw line.
Jerica Hawkins is second on the team in scoring, earning an 8.9 point per game average to go along with a team-high 68 rebounds, while Settle is averaging 8.1 points on 46.7 percent shooting.
Fans make sure to stay updated on wwuowls.com tomorrow night for a full recap and score from Anderson Arena. Â
