FULTON, Mo. – The William Woods University Women's Basketball comeback came up short as the Owls were defeated by No. 9 Lyon College, 77-74, in overtime on Thursday evening at Anderson Arena. The Owls outscored the Scots by 12 in the fourth quarter to force overtime.
 
Jasmine Brown led the Owls with 20 points on 7-of-11 shooting. Kaycee Gerald followed with 17 points and Kennedy Volkart rounded out the double-figure scorers with 10 points. Peyton Greenlee led the Owls with seven rebounds. WWU shot 47.5 percent from the floor.
 
WWU returns to action on Saturday, January 21st when they host Central Baptist College in American Midwest Conference action. Tip-off is set for 1 p.m.
 
Game Flow
The Owls and Scots were locked in a tight contest early as a pair of free throws by Kaycee Gerald put the Owls ahead, 5-4, with 5:51 left in the quarter. WWU and Lyon would trade leads and with the Scots ahead by two, 9-7, Kennedy Volkart hit a jumper in the paint tying the game at 9-9. Lyon closed out the quarter on a 7-2 run taking a 16-11 lead after the first quarter of play.
 
Lyon came out and grew its lead to seven points, 20-13, after a Samantha French jumper in the paint to open the second quarter. WWU would not go away as they continued to chip away, and after Brown hit a free throw, the Owls were down four, 20-16. Lyons offense got hot to end the first half as they went on a 17-7 run taking a 14-point lead, 37-23, lead into halftime.
 
The Scots continued to lead by double-digits in the third quarter and after a jumper by Brown, WWU trailed 41-31. Lyon answer back by stretching its lead to 15 points, 49-34, with 3:53 left in the third quarter. WWU could not get the lead under double-figures and after three quarters of action the Owls trailed 54-42.
 
William Woods made its move in the fourth quarter as Bailey Rollins hit a three-pointer putting the Owls down nine, however, Lyon stretched its lead back to 14, 59-45, with 7:58 left in the quarter. WWU offense started heating up as over the next minute of the game the lead was down to nine, 59-50, after a Kelsey Scherder three-pointer. A jumper by Scherder in the paint put the Owls down seven, 59-52, with 6:11 left to play.
 
Lyon stretched the lead back to ten points, before the Owls closed the gap. A three-pointer by Gerald and a layup by Scherder, the Owls found itself down five, 64-59. After both teams traded baskets the Owls found itself down two, after another Gerald three-pointer. Thirty seconds later April Gebke tied the game at 66-66. Neither team could score the rest of the quarter and the Owls and Scots would head to overtime.
 
In a low scoring overtime period the Scots scored the first four points taking a 70-66 lead with 1:27 left to play. Brown got the Owls on the scoreboard on the next trip for the Owls and WWU trailed by two, 70-68. Lyon sealed the victory at the free throw line as they went 7-for-8 from the line. WWU had the lead of the Scots down to one but could not get the lead and the Owls were defeated by the Scots, 77-74, in overtime.
 
By the Numbers
20 – Junior Jasmine Brown led the Owls with 20 points
17 – Kaycee Gerald followed with 17 points
6 – WWU hit six three-pointers in the contest
7 – Peyton Greenlee led WWU with seven rebounds
15 – William Woods had 15 assists in the contest
9 – The Owls had nine steals in the game
47.5 – William Woods shot 47.5 percent from the floor
3 – Freshman Kaycee Gerald hit three of the six three-pointers for the Owls
28 – WWU had 28 points in the paint