Columbia, Mo. – (RV) The William Woods University women's basketball team cruised to a 82-64 victory over Stephens College Thursday night, picking up its eighth American Midwest Conference (AMC) win of the season.
 
The Owls (13-4; 8-3 AMC), regained its stimulus by scoring a new season-high 82 points, on 45.4 percent shooting  from the floor and going 7-for-18 (38.8 percent) from the three point line.
 
In the first quarter the Owls jumped out to an early 15-3 lead, after an April Gebke steal and then a two point bucket from Kendra Vernatti, at the 4:56 mark.  Shortly after, WWU would go on a 7-2 run, extending its lead out to 22-7, after Kelsey Scherder connected in the paint for two points.
 
Stephens College would get some offensive momentum at the end of the first 10:00 minutes of play, as Briana Clark hit 1-of-2 from the free throw line, making the score 26-12 in the Owls favor.
 
WWU would continue its offensive surge in the second quarter, extending its lead all the way out to 21 points, with a three pointer from Vernatti, giving the Owls the 42-21 advantage. With the clock winding down to half time, the Owls held on to its double digit lead and headed into the locker room with the commanding 44-23 lead over the Stars.
 
At the break, William Woods was led by Kennedy Volkart, who collected 12 points, while the team shot 45.9 percent from the field and was 4-of-9 from beyond the arc. Stephens College, meanwhile, ended the first half connecting on 31.0 percent of its shots, while just going 1-of-9 from the three point line.
 
In the third quarter, WWU was able to put some distance between them and the Stars, as the Owls, Julia Wells forced a SC turnover and converted it into two points, pushing the Owls lead to its largest of the night, at 56-31.
 
However, Stephens College didn't back down, as the Stars closed out the third quarter on a 8-2 run, helping them outscore the Owls 18-16 and we were off to the final 10:00 minutes of play in Columbia, Missouri with a 60-41, Owls advantage.
 
The fourth quarter was all WWU, as the Owls didn't look back and went on to secure the double figure, 82-64 victory over Stephens College.
 
Volkart ended the night with a game-high 18 points, on 53.3 percent shooting from the floor, while Nia Lateju chipped in 14 points, going 4-of-9 from the field. Scherder and Wells were the other two Owl players to end the night in double figures, posting 12 and 10 points respectively.
 
Marissa Webb grabbed down a team-high eight rebounds, as Kendra Vaughan collected nine points on the night, while she was 3-of-4 from downtown.
The Owls return to action on Saturday, as the team travels West on I-70 to pay AMC rival No. 6 ranked Columbia College a visit, which also will be the AMC Game of the Week. Tip-off is set for 2:00 p.m.
 
Fans check back on wwuowls.com from a full recap and score from Columbia, Missouri on Saturday.
 
 
 
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