FULTON, Mo. – The William Woods University women's basketball team had its 2014-15 season come to an end, falling just short of pulling a monumental upset against the No. 5-ranked Bethel University (Tenn.), as a Wildcats three pointer with 2.9 seconds remaining helped BU escape, 62-61, in the first round of the NAIA National Championship Tournament on Thursday evening.
 
The Owls (23-9: 18-6 AMC ) after being down by 22 points in the second half, chipped away one possession at a time to pull together a comeback of the year, however, it wasn't quite in the cards for the seventh seed WWU as they ended their season in heart breaking fashion.
 
The Wildcats started the first half, just like they have played all season, jumping out to an early 10-3 lead after leading scorer, Tayla Foster knocked down her first three pointer of the game at the 17:31 mark.
 
Foster, who single handle controlled most of the first half shot a game-high 18 three pointers, going 6-for-19 from the floor, as the senior forward gave the Wildcats the spark of energy the team needed offensively to manage the first frame of the match-up.
 
WWU couldn't get the momentum going in the first frame and struggled to hit a field goal, shooting a season-low 22.6 percent from the floor, as Bethel took advantage by pushing their lead to the largest of the game (15) making the score 29-14 in their favor with just 4:54 left in the half.
 
Shortly after, Bethel University's Carnation Hart would nail a three pointer with less than .30 seconds left in the first half, giving the Wildcats a 38-22 lead heading into the locker room.
 
The Owls shot a season-low 22.6 from the field, as Dennisha Rice paced the way for the Owls, netting seven points, while Foster totaled 18 points and seven rebounds for BU.
 
Despite the cold shooting in the first frame and the red hot start to the second half for BU, the Owls would change the course of the game by forcing Bethel to commit few errors along with multiple three pointers from the hands of the Owls, to cut the lead down to single Digits.
 
Senior, Blake French had a second half as best as she could for her last time in an Owls jersey, being the catalyst the offense needed, hitting back-to-back three pointers cutting the Wildcats lead down to four, 53-49 with under 6:00 minutes left to play.
 
Then at the 3:03 mark Marissa Web would tie the game up 55-55 after an offensive rebound and put back, where she was also fouled on the play by Foster, which would be her fifth and final foul and sent Web the charity stripe to collect the old fashion three point play and take the first lead of the game for the Owls, 56-55.
Although, after trading baskets in the last final minutes of regulation, WWU went ahead 61-59 by a three pointer from Kelsey Scherder, giving the Owls the hope to capture the huge upset and punch there way to the second round of play.
 
With the clock winding down, Bethel's Shamon Pearson had a different vision, as Jackliann Street grabbed down a huge offensive rebound and kicked it out to an open Pearson, who drilled a three pointer with 2.9 seconds till the buzzer, securing the one point victory, 62-62 over the Owls. 
 
The Owls rally in the second half helped them end the night shooting 32.8 percent from the floor and 37 percent from beyond the arc. WWU outscored the Wildcats 39-24 in the second frame, as BU only hit 9-of-30 (30.0 percent) of their shots and 1-of-9 three pointers the whole second half.
 
French the St. Charles, Missouri native, led the Owls with 18 points on 6-of-15 shooting and going 3-of-7 from downtown. Webb totaled nine points on the night, as Nia Lateju and Julia Wells both chipped in eight points a piece for WWU.
 
"Blake was outstanding and her second half performance was a fitting way to end her career as an Owl," said head coach Dan Chapla.
 
Foster, led all scorers closing the night with 26 points, before fouling out and with the win over WWU, the Wildcats will now advance to the second round of the National tournament, meeting up with the winner of Concordia University (Calif) and Caroll College (Mont.) on Friday night.
 
"I am extremely proud of how we fought back tonight," said Dan Chapla. "I thought we were going to steal that game but they made one more play that we did."
 
Chapla added, "We had a great year and thought we reached our potential and then some, so that is all I can ask for. "
 
Fans check back on wwuowls.com for a 2014-15 season recap at the end of March.

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