FULTON, Mo.—The William Woods University women's basketball team will look for its fifth win in a row on Thursday night, as the Owls will take on Stephens College. Tipoff will start at 7 p.m.
Thursday night's game is sponsored by Dairy Queen and the first 100 fans get a free Dilly Bar from DQ.
Also, both William Woods and Stephens College will also be participating in the Coaches vs. Cancer and Sneakers Week, which is a nationwide event when basketball coaches across the country unite for a common cause – saving lives from cancer!
In addition, donations can be made and proceeds for Thursday's game will go towards Braelynn, Shae French and the French family.
Braelynn, one the teams' biggest fans and the niece of senior women's basketball player
Blake French, was diagnosed with a cancerous tumor located in the brain-stem on June 18
th, 2014. The diagnosis is one of the most serious and aggressive forms of cancer that can occur in children.
"It's the least we and any of us can do to help them and I know they would appreciate it," said head coach
Dan Chapla. "Braelynn has been a part of the team, comes to almost every game and we are always praying for her."
The Owls (12-5; 8-4 AMC), are coming off a 68-50 victory over Missouri Baptist University in its last time out. The team shot 47.1 percent from the floor in the outing and were led by
Kennedy Volkart's team-high 14 points on 3-of-5 shooting and going 8-of-12 from the free throw line.
Nia Lateju was the final WWU player to reach double-figures, having 10 points and tying Volkart with eight boards.
Dennisha Rice added nine points,
Kelsey Scherder contributed eight, while French and
Marissa Webb totaled five points apiece.
"We won the game in the first half, but hit a wall in the second," Chapla said. "In the first half we really looked like good basketball team."
With the win over the Spartans, the Owls have now won four games in a row, as they have totaled 71.3 points and are shooting 41.5 percent from the floor and 30.9 percent from downtown.
Volkart has led the way the last week, averaging a team-high 10.3 points and grabbing down 26 rebounds. Rice has continued to play well when called upon, averaging 10.0 points, while shooting 46.4 percent from the floor, 40.0 percent from downtown and 80.0 percent from the free throw line.
"Other people have stepped up offensively during the last four games and when score inside and outside we can be pretty good," Chapla said. "Now we are starting second round of conference of play, so should be even tougher here on out."
On the season, the Owls are putting up 70.6 points, while hitting 41.8 percent of its shots from the floor, 34.3 percent from the three-point arc and 69.1 percent from the charity stripe.
Through 17 games thus far, Lateju is leading the offense, averaging a team-high 12.0 points on 45.1 percent shooting from the floor, while French is second on the team in scoring (11.6 ppg), but leads the team in field goal percentage (54.6), three-point percentage (40.0), free throw percentage (79.6) and steals (27).
Volkart has upped her season average to 9.6 points per game and still leads the team in rebounds (107) and blocked shots (21), while Webb is fourth on the team in scoring, averaging 7.8 points per game.
This will be the second meeting on the year between the Owls and Stars (2-15; 2-10 AMC), as back on November 20
th, the Owls flew past the Stars, 76-30.
Stephens College, will enter Anderson Arena on a six game losing streak, including falling to Missouri Baptist University back on January 15
th, 64-41.
The team shot 22.6 percent from the floor and were led by Dana Heggemann scoring a team-high 15 points on 6-of-16 shooting. Kandace Cook and Katie Heaton totaled six points each, while three other Stars contributed four points.
On the season, Stephens College is led by Heggemann, averaging a team-high 13.9 points, while shooting 42.0 percent from the floor, 76.5 percent from the free throw line and leads the team in rebounds (113) and blocked shots (22).
Makayla Butler is second on the team, scoring 13.2 points, while owning a field goal percentage of 41.5 percent. Heaton, meanwhile, is putting up 8.3 points, while Lauren Carlson is averaging 5.6 points per game.
To learn more about Coaches vs. Cancer Suits and Sneakers Awareness Week, visit
HERE.
To learn more about Braelynn, her story and how to donate, visit
HERE.
Fans make sure to stay updated on wwuowls.com tomorrow night for a full recap and score from Anderson Arena.
