FULTON, Mo. - The (RV) William Woods women's basketball will look to pick up its eighth American Midwest Conference win on Saturday night, as the Owls plays host to the No. 13 ranked Freed-Hardeman University. Tip-off is set for 2:00 p.m.
The Owls (12-3, 7-2 AMC), are coming off a 76-61 victory over Williams Baptist College, Thursday night, which saw the team capture its 12
th win on the season and impressively snatch its sixth straight AMC game.
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 the Owls had an impressive five players finish in double figures.
April 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,
Julia Wells complied a double-double performance, 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.
As a team, the Owls offense has been a major key to its success on the season, as WWU is averaging 67.2 points per game and shooting 39.1 percent from the floor. But what has also made a huge impact, is the team's defensive play, holding its opponents to just 56.2 points per game and out rebounding teams 711-577. The Owls are currently ranked first in the nation in defensive rebounds per game with 33.4, while ranked second in the NAIA in defensive field goal percentage (31.6).
On the season, Lateju continues to have a superior year, averaging a team-high 12.9 points per game, as the forward has finished in double figures in the teams' past six games. Volkart has now pushed her season average to 9.6 points per game, while the junior is second of the team in rebounds with 114 . Owls guard
Julia Wells, now leads the team with 118 rebounds on the year, which is good enough for 17
th in the nation, while adding 7.5 points per game.
Two other players that have came on hot offensively, are
Kelsey Scherder and
April Gebke, each averaging eight points per game, while Scherder leads the team with 13 three pointers and Gebke owns a team-high 19 steals and 57 assists on the year.
This will not be an easy task for WWU, as the No. 13 ranked Lady Lions enter Saturday's game 10-5 on the season and 6-3 in AMC play. FHU will be on a hunt, as the Lady Lions have uncharacteristically dropped three conference games, recently falling to the No. 8 ranked Columbia College 67-58.
On the season, Taleeah Cross leads the team in several categories, which includes 14.0 points per game, 41 steals, 36 assists and 90 rebounds on the season. Brandee Busenlehn is second of the team, averaging 10.5 points per game, while Kim Mallory contributes 8.5 points per game,, on 41.3 percent shooting from the field.
Fans stay updated on wwuowls.com for a full recap and score of this AMC showdown inside Anderson Arena.
