FULTON, Mo. – The William Woods University women's basketball team lead the entire contest against Stephens College on Thursday evening in American Midwest Conference action. The Owls defeated the Stars, 58-45, to improve to 11-5 on the season and 8-3 in AMC action.
 
April Gebke led the Owls with 14 points and Jasmine Brown followed with 10 points to round out the double-figure scores for the Owls. Peyton Greenlee added nine in the contest for the Owls. Gebke and Brown also led the Owls with eight rebounds each in the contest. WWU shot 37.3 percent from the floor during the contest.
 
The Owls game on Saturday, January 14th against Columbia College has been postponed because of the icy weather predictions. Please check wwuowls.com for future updates on the makeup dates.
 
Game Flow
WWU and Stephens came out struggling to score as the first four shots of the contest were missed. Peyton Greenlee hit the first shot of the game when she hit her first of three three-pointers in the contest. Greenlee continued to shoot the ball well as she hit the next two shots for the Owls, both three-pointers putting the Owls ahead, 9-5, with 5:25 left in the quarter. A layup by Jasmine Brown stretched the lead to six, 11-5, before the Stars scored the next five points taking the Owls lead to one, 11-10. A jumper by April Gebke put the Owls ahead, 13-10, after the first quarter of play.
 
The Owls stretched the lead to five points early in the second quarter but the Stars battled back trimming the lead down to one, 15-14, after a Mariah Brisco jumper. WWU scored the next five points, capped by a Kendra Vaughan three and the Owls found themselves ahead 20-14. The Stars battled back taking the Owls lead down to two, but WWU answered right back and built an 11-point lead, 29-18, after a Brown jumper. WWU built the lead to as many as 14 in the first half, but a Briana Clark jumper cut the lead to 12, 34-22, going to halftime.
 
The Owls did not let the Stars get any closer than 10 points in the third quarter of action. After a Kelsey Scherder jumper in the paint, the Owls lead by 12, 38-26. After trading buckets the Owls stretched the lead to 14, 47-33, after a Bailey Rollins three-pointer with two minutes to go in the quarter. Rollins capped the third quarter scoring with a layup putting WWU ahead by 16 points, 49-33.
 
The Owls continued to hold onto a double-figure lead and led by 16 before the Stars started making a run. Stephens trimmed the Owls lead down to nine, 51-42, after going on a 7-0 run. WWU stretched it back to 11 points but the Stars continued to battle and after a Briana Clark jumper the Owls lead by eight, 53-45. WWU picked up the defense as they held the Stars without a point for the final 3:33 of the contest. During the stretch the Owls scored five points and defeated the Stars, 58-45.
 
By the Numbers
14 – April Gebke led the Owls with 14 points
10 – Jasmine Brown rounded out the double-figure scorers for the Owls with 10
8 – Gebke and Brown each collected eight rebounds in the win
16 – WWU dished out 16 assists in on the 22 made field goals
7 – The Owls hit seven three-pointers in the game
28 – William Woods scored 28 points in the paint
8 – The Owls forced Stephens into committing eight turnovers