BATESVILLE, Ark.— The (RV) William Woods University women's basketball team saw its eight game winning streak snapped on Thursday night, as the Owls fell in tough fashion to No. 18-ranked Lyon College, 71-62.
The Owls (16-6; 12-5 AMC), shot 41.3 percent from the floor, 35.7 percent from downtown and 82.6 percent from the free throw line against the Scots (19-4; 15-2 AMC).
Leading the way for WWU, was senior
Destani Stensrud, as the Exeter, Missouri, native, scored a season-high 18 points on 5-of-11 shooting, while going 8-of-8 from the free throw line, tied teammate
Nia Lateju with a game-high seven boards and added a game-high five steals.
Sophomore
Kennedy Volkart contributed 12 points and six rebounds, while Lateju added nine points on 3-of-8 shooting. Seniors
Dennisha Rice and
Blake French also scored seven points each, with French dishing out a team-high four assists.
Lyon College, meanwhile, shot 47.2 percent from the floor and had all five of its starters reach double-figures in points. Taylor Gaedtke paced the offense, scoring 18 points on 8-of-12 shooting and totaled a team-high six rebounds.
Leading scorer Carina Jackson scored 15 points on 5-of-15 shooting, while Jamie Jackson totaled 11 points and Elliot Taylor and Ashala Watson added 10 points each.
In the first half, William Woods had its struggles out of the gate, which allowed the Scots to take an 18-9 lead at the 10:02 mark, after J. Jackson scored off an Owls turnover.
The Scots would extend its lead out to 24-12, with 5:22 left in the first half, after Tamires de Souza grabbed down an offensive board and was able to score on the put-back.
The Owls, however, were able to find its groove as the clock continued to tick down, as they closed out the final five minutes of play in the half on an impressive 14-4 run, capped off by Stensrud making both of her free throw attempts with .03 seconds remaining, after being fouled on an offensive rebound she gathered, which allowed WWU to head into the locker room with momentum on its side, as they trailed by just two at 28-26.
William Woods shot 28.0 percent in the first half, but did outrebound the Scots 22-14 and they were led by Stensrud's eight points and Lateju's six rebounds.
Lyon College shot 38.5 percent and were led by both Carina and Jamie Jackson, as the duo scored six points each.
In the second half, the Owls took its first lead of the game, as just .23 seconds in, Lateju was able to drain a 3-pointer, off an assist from Stensrud, which put them up 29-28.
Over the next five minutes of play, the teams' would flip-flop lead changes and tie three different times, but they would again meet up all squared for the fourth time, at the 14:34 mark, after Stensrud scored a two-pointer in the paint, which tied the game at 37-37.
Lyon would retake the advantage on its next possession, as Gaedtke scored her two point bucket off an assist from C. Jackson and then they were able to rattle off a 7-0 run, as they were able to gain some breathing room after Watson earned the old-fashioned three point play, which put the Scots up 44-37, with 13:19 on the clock.
WWU was able to respond though with a 6-0 run over the next minute, capped off by Rice's 3-pointer at the 12:09 mark, which put the Owls down by just one point (44-43).
Lyon again, however, was able to go on yet another run, this time they scored the next eight points, putting them ahead 52-43, with 10:14 remaining in the game, after C. Jackson went 1-of-2 from the charity stripe.
William Woods continued to battle, as
Julia Wells 3-pointer just three minutes later, narrowed the deficit down to three points, at 54-51. Lyon was able to break away from the charging Owls, as they extended its lead back out to 58-51, after Gaedtke made her two-pointer, off a steal from Watson at the 5:11 mark.
The Owls cut the lead down to four (60-56), after Stensrud made her two point basket with 3:55 remaining, but despite the valiant effort, the Scots were able to fend off William Woods in the final minutes of play and went on for the nine point victory.
WWU shot a much improved 57.1 percent from the floor in the second half, but the Scots offense kept pace with the hot-shooting Owls, as they netted 55.6 percent of its shots from the field.
The team will look to regroup quickly, as they have another tall-task in order on Saturday afternoon, with the Owls going toe-to-toe with No. 1-ranked Freed-Hardeman University. Tipoff will start at 2 p.m.
Fans make sure to stay updated on wwuowls.com tomorrow afternoon for a full preview of Saturday's action.
