Box Score BELLEVILLE, Ill.—The (RV) William Woods University women's basketball team had a chance to win the game with .17 seconds left on the clock against Lindenwood University-Belleville, but the shot attempt rimmed out, allowing the Lady Lynx to defeat WWU, 73-72.
After Jasmine Gibbs-Brown went 1-of-2 from the free throw line, the Owls (8-4; 4-3 AMC) called a timeout to get one final play off with .17 seconds left on the clock.
It was a wild ending to the game, as
Destani Stensrud shot attempt missed, but
Marissa Webb gathered up the offensive rebound, which kept the Owls alive. Webb's shot also missed, but Stensrud came up big with a rebound of her own with .05 seconds remaining, however, her final shot rimmed out as the buzzer sounded.
William Woods shot 39.4 percent from the floor, 47.1 percent from downtown and 70.6 percent from the free throw line, while also outrebounding the Lady Lynx (5-7; 4-2 AMC), 43-31.
Leading the way for the Owls was junior
Nia Lateju, as the Norwalk, California, native, recorded her first double-double on the season, having a team-high 19 points and 12 rebounds. Senior
Blake French had a strong game, scoring 16 points on 6-of-10 shooting, while
Dennisha Rice added a career-high 12 points off the bench.
The Lady Lynx shot 44.4 percent from the floor, 47.6 percent from the three-point arc and 78.9 percent from the charity stripe.
LU-Belleville was led by leading scorer Shelby Kohrmann, totaling a game-high 20 points on 6-of-16 shooting from the floor. Gibbs-Brown added 19 points and went a perfect 7-of-7 from the floor, while Kindra Brown and Kristie Owen contributed 10 points each.
After trailing early through the first half, French tied the game at 11-11, after draining a three-pointer at the 12:00 minute mark. The Owls would take its first lead of the game just three minutes later, as Rice hit a three-pointer of her own, giving WWU a 16-15 advantage.
The Lady Lynx would regain a 17-16 lead two possessions later and from there, LU-Belleville was able to push its lead out to five (28-23), with just over five minutes left in the half, after Shelby Kohrmann made her two point shot.
The Owls, however, would tie the game up for the fourth time, after Webb and Lateju both made their two point baskets, while Stensrud went 1-of-2 from the free throw line, making it a 28-28 game with 3:30 left.
Gibbs-Brown struck again on the Lady Lynx next possession, hitting a three-pointer, allowing them to take a 31-28 lead. LU-Belleville was able to hold a marginal lead the rest of the half and head into the locker room up 36-33.
The Owls shot 38.7 percent (12-of-31) from the floor in the first half, held a rebounding advantage of 23-15 and were led by French having eight points, while Lateju totaled eight boards. LU-Bellville shot 45.2 percent from the field through the first 20:00 minutes of play, including going 8-of-15 from downtown and they were led by Gibbs-Brown, having 12 points.
In the second half, William Woods came out on fire, going on a 6-0 run, capped off by Webb hitting her two point shot in the paint, giving WWU a 39-36 lead, its largest of the game at the 17:47 mark.
Over the next nine minutes of play, the two teams' tied four different times, while also going basket-for-basket, but it was WWU still holding a 60-58 lead, after
Kennedy Volkart made her two point shot at the 7:38 mark.
Just .27 seconds later, however, the game would be tied for the 10
th time in the outing, as Brown made both of her free throw attempts, making it a brand new game at 60-60.
On its next possession, LU-Belleville took a 61-60 lead, after Kirstie Owen went 1-of-2 from the free throw line. They would then extend its lead out to 70-64 at the 2:57 mark, after Gibbs-Brown went 2-of-2 from the free throw line, but the Owls would continue to battle, going on an 8-2 run, capped off by Lateju's two point bucket, which tied the score up at 72-72 with 1:21 remaining.
Gibbs-Brown going 1-of-2 from the free throw line with .30 seconds left proved to be enough for the Lady Lynx, as despite a tremendous effort from William Woods before the horn sounded, LU-Belleville held on for the one point victory.
The Owls will look for its first win on the New Year in front of the home crowd on Tuesday, January 6
th, as the team welcomes Harris-Stowe State to Anderson Arena. Tipoff will start at 5:30 p.m.
Fans make sure to stay updated on wwuowls.com next week for a full preview of Tuesday's action.
