COLUMBIA, Mo. – The William Woods University women's basketball team fell in the final seconds to No. 12 Columbia College, 66-64, on Saturday afternoon. The Cougars scored the winning points with nine seconds left on the clock.
 
Senior April Gebke led the Owls with 16 points on 7-of-12 shooting, while Jasmine Brown followed for the Owls with 15 points. Bailey Rollins rounded out the double figure scorers with 10 points. WWU outscored the Cougars by 11 points in the second half.
 
The Owls will be back in action on Wednesday, March 1st when they play in the AMC Tournament quarterfinals. The Owls will find out who they play tonight at 7 p.m.
 
Game Flow
The Cougars came out and pounced on the Owls over the first three minutes of the contest as Columbia scored the first seven points of the game and held the Owls scoreless for the first four minutes of the contest. WWU first basket was scored by April Gebke with 5:59 left in the quarter. WWU came back and a three by Peyton Greenlee tied the game at 7-7. Greenlee put the Owls ahead 11-9 in the quarter after a jumper in the paint. This would be the last points for the Owls in the first quarter as the Cougars scored the last five and the Owls trailed 14-11 after one quarter of play.
 
Columbia came out and grew the lead to 20-13 over the first minute and 15 second of the second quarter. Columbia continued to add to its lead and with 6:38 left in the first half, WWU trailed 26-15, after a Sarah Walters three. WWU got the game within ten points, 30-21, after a Jasmine Brown jumper but the Cougars scored the final four points of the quarter and the Owls trailed 34-21 at halftime.
 
Coming out of halftime, the Cougars came out and extended its lead to 16 points, 39-23, with 6:30 left in the third quarter. After trailing by 16 points, the Owls slowly started to claw back into the contest and a jumper by Brown with 1:02 left in the third put the Owls down eight, 45-37. WWU would trail by eight, 48-40, after the third quarter.
 
The Owls continued to battle and after a three-point play by Brown, the Owls found themselves down 48-45. The contest stayed close for the next few minutes of the contest and WWU had it within three points, 57-54, with 5:18 left in the contest. Later in the fourth quarter, the Owls found themselves down one, 62-61, after a jumper by Gebke. After a bucket by Columbia, the Cougars led the Owls by three, and Bailey Rollins three tied the contest at 64-64. This would be the last points for the Owls in the contest as the Cougars scored the final points with nine seconds left in the contest and the Owls would fall to Columbia, 66-64.
 
By the Numbers
3 – WWU had three players score in double-figures in the contest
16 – April Gebke scored 16 points for the Owls
10-for-10 – WWU was 10-for-10 on free throws in the contest
6 – Jasmine Brown, and Kelsey Scherder led the Owls with six rebounds
12 – WWU dished out 12 assists in the contest
4 – WWU recorded four blocks in the contest
43.1 – The Owls shot 43.1 percent from the floor for the contest