FULTON, Mo.—The (RV) William Woods University women's basketball team will look for its first win of the New Year on Thursday night, as the Owls welcome American Midwest Conference (AMC) newcomer, St. Louis College of Pharmacy to Anderson Arena. Tipoff will start at 5:30 p.m.
The Owls (8-5; 4-4 AMC), suffered its fourth consecutive on Tuesday night, as they fell against Harris-Stowe State University, 69-62.
The team shot 35.9 percent from the field and they were led by senior
Blake French, scoring a team-high 15 points on 6-of-11 shooting from the floor.
Nia Lateju, a Norwalk, California, native, added 13 points and a team-high nine boards, while
Kennedy Volkart and
Marissa Webb added 11 and nine points respectively.
Trailing 51-38 at the 8:52 mark of the second half, the Owls made a move in getting back into the game, as
Paige Stewart hit a three-pointer, which narrowed the deficit down to 10. Then after forcing a Hornet turnover,
Destani Stensrud went coast-to-coast, making her two point basket, which cut the lead down to 51-43.
The Owls would then be down just four at 51-47, after
Dennisha Rice made a three-pointer off another Hornet turnover at the 6:28 mark, but HSSU would respond with a 5-0 run, which gave them some breathing room back at 56-47.
William Woods answered with a 5-0 run of its own, capped off by Stewart's two-pointer in the paint, which again put the team down only 56-52. A 6-0 run over the next minute by the Hornets, however, did the Owls in, as they took a 62-52 lead, after Mia Wesley made her two point shot. WWU would cut the advantage down to five points on two different occasions, but that would be as close as they would get, with the Hornets holding on for the seven point win.
On the season, William Woods is scoring 70.5 points per game, while hitting 41.8 percent of its shots from the floor. Leading the way through 13 games has been Lateju, averaging a team-high 13.1 points, while shooting 44.9 percent from the floor and 67.9 percent from the free throw line.
French, a St. Charles, Missouri, native, is putting up 12.3 points per game, while draining a team-high 56.3 percent of her shots from the floor and going 86.1 percent from the charity stripe. Volkart, meanwhile, is scoring 9.5 points, but leads the team in rebounds (81) and blocks (15).
As a team, the Owls rank 11
th in the NAIA in three point field goal percentage (35.7), 16
th in defensive rebounds per game (29.7), 21
st in total rebound defense (35.8), 21
st in total three point field goals made (86), 22
nd in three point field goals made per game (6.6), 22
nd in free throw percentage (70.6) and 23
rd in three point field goal percentage defense (27.6).
This will be the first meeting between the Owls and the Eutectics (0-8; 0-7 AMC) since the 2004 season, when WWU defeated STLCOP, 103-41.
This year, St. Louis College of Pharmacy, is still looking for its first win on the 2014-15 season, as they are coming off an 89-58 defeat in its last time out against Missouri Baptist University.
The Eutectics were led by Lauren Albertina scoring a career-high 20 points on 8-of-16 shooting off the bench. Emi Santhuff added 18 points at the guard position, while Jordyn Norde contributed 11 points.
On the season, STLCOP is scoring 44.6 points per game and are shooting 30.2 percent from the floor. Santhuff is pacing the offense, averaging 13.1 points, while hitting 92.9 percent of her shots from the free throw line. Norde is second on the team in scoring (10.1 ppg) and rebounds (26), but leads the team in assists (19).
Paige Forshee is averaging 8.0 points per game and shooting 41.4 percent from the floor, while Albertina upped her point per game average to 7.3.
Fans make sure to stay updated on wwuowls.com tomorrow night for a full recap and score from inside Anderson Arena.
