FULTON, Mo. – The (RV) William Woods University women's basketball team captured its fourth consecutive victory on Thursday night, as the Owls defeated Williams Baptist College 76-61.
The Owls (12-3; 7-2), continue to soar to new boundaries on the season, as the team remains perfect in 2016 and remains to stay hot, with its sixth straight American Midwest Conference win, to take control of the third seed in conference.
WWU took control of the game right from the tip-off, as the Owls jumped out to an early 9-2 lead, after a three pointer from
April Gebke at the top of the key. Then at the 2:55 minute mark, senior
Julia Wells connected with
Nia Lateju for a two point bucket, to cap off a 7-0 run and give the Owls the 11-5 lead over the Lady Eagles.
Next trip down, WBC cut the Owls lead down to eight (16-8), after a Jasmine Ford three pointer but WWU would respond and close the first quarter with a 22-11 advantage.
In the second quarter the Owls offense kept cruising and weren't backing down, as WWU extended its lead out to 20 at the 4:20 mark, with a Wells two point basket, making the score 36-16. Despite their valiant effort, the Lady Eagles didn't have an answer defensively, as the Owls ended the second frame outscoring WBC 18-9 and went into the break with the commanding 40-20 lead.
At the half, William Woods shot over 50.0 percent in every category, which included a blister 53.6 percent from the field, 50.0 from the free throw line and was 5-of-9 from beyond the arc. Meanwhile, the Lady Eagles were just 8-of-35 from the field and never reached the charity stripe the entire first half.
The third quarter was no different than the first half, as the Owls jumped out to its largest lead of the game at 25, with 2:45 left to play in the third frame, after senior
Marissa Webb nailed her shot from beyond the arc, making the score 51-26.
WWU defense was just as strong as its offense in the contest, as the team closed the third quarter with the 55-34 advantage, heading into final 10:00 minutes of regulation.
In the fourth quarter WBC made sure to prove they weren't going down without a fight, as the Lady Eagles put together a 13-2 lead, capped off by back to back three pointers, forcing the Owls to burn a timeout, as they saw their lead get cut down to just 12 points with a score of 64-52.
Then at the 3:44 mark, Da'Monique Brown earned three points the old fashion way, putting the Lady Eagles within 11 of the Owls (66-55). However, that would be as close as WBC would get, as WWU knocked down key free throws down the stretch to hang onto the 76-61 win over WBC.
William Woods ended the night shooting 45.0 percent from the field, 7-of-20 from downtown and connecting on 15-for-21 from the charity stripe, while WBC closed out shooting 31.8 percent from the floor and 9-of-25 from the three point line which five of them came in the fourth quarter to kindle its come back efforts.
The Owls had an impressive five players finish in double figures, as Gebke led the way with a season-high 16 points, on 4-of-9 shooting and was a perfect 6-of-6 from the free throw line. Now for the second straight game of her senior season, Wells has complied a double-double, ending the night with 15 points and a team-high 13 boards, making it her fourth consecutive game with double digits in the rebound category.
Kennedy Volkart also had an strong display collecting 12 points and eight rebounds, while
Nia Lateju chipped in 11 points and eight boards and
Kelsey Scherder rounded out the five with 10 points in just 18:00 minutes of play.
WWU returns back to Anderson Arena on Saturday afternoon, as the team hosts the No. 11 ranked Freed-Hardeman, in hopes for the AMC upset. Tip-off is set for 2:00 p.m.
Fans stay connected on wwuowls.com for a recap and score from the AMC showdown Saturday evening.
