BILLINGS, Mont. – For the first time since March 13, 2013, the William Woods University women's basketball team collected a win at the NAIA Division I Women's Basketball National Championship, presented by Wells Fargo. The Owls defeated top seed in the Liston Bracket and third ranked, Shawnee State University, 88-85, on Thursday evening at Rimrock Arena at MetraPark.
 
The Owls win marks the sixth time that a No. 8 seed has defeated a No. 1 seed since the current seeding format was established in 2003.
 
Leading the Owls was Jasmine Brown with 24 points on 8-of-15 shooting. Freshman Kaycee Gerald followed with 22 points. Peyton Greenlee and Kelsey Scherder rounded out the double-figure scores for the Owls with 17 points and 11 points, respectfully. WWU shot 46.2 percent from the field in the upset victory over Shawnee State.

"I'm so proud of everybody that stepped on the floor tonight," said  Head Coach Dan Chapla. "They contributed in some small way. We're playing maybe the best offensive team in the country, and they never backed down."
 
William Woods returns to action tomorrow, March 17th when they play John Brown (Ark.) at 9 p.m. CT, in the second round of the NAIA Division I Women's Basketball National Championship.
 
Game Flow
The Owls offense came out firing on all gears as over the first three minutes of the game they took a 10-4 lead over Shawnee State. During that stretch the Owls had points scored Jasmine Brown, April Gebke and Kaycee Gerald. Peyton Greenlee scored the next four points for WWU, extending the Owls lead to 14-4, with 4:39 left in the first quarter. The top seeded Bears would not go away easily as they came back and tied the game at 18-18. Greenlee hit a three-pointer putting the Owls ahead 21-18. WWU found themselves down 22-21 before Gerald was fouled on a three-point shot at the buzzer. She it all three free throws and the Owls led 24-22 at the end of the first quarter.
 
The game would continue to go back and forth in the second quarter, and with the game tied at 24-24, Kelsey Scherder hit a three putting the Owls back on top 27-24. After the Bears scored the next four points the Owls regained the lead on Scherders second three of the quarter, 30-27. WWU slowly extended its lead to 11 points, 43-32, after a pair of free throws by Gerald. Shawnee cut the lead down to five in the quarter, but the Owls grew the lead back to nine points, 49-40, heading into halftime.
 
WWU came out in the second half and grew the lead to 12 points, 54-42, after Scherder knocked down a three pointer. Shawnee State did not go way and trimmed the lead down to six, 56-50, after a pair of free throws by Jonessa Moore with 6:20 left in the quarter. The Bears had the lead down to four points, 56-52, with 5:11 left in the quarter after Moore scored a bucket in the paint. The game would remain close for the rest of the third quarter and Moore put the Bears down two, 64-62, after hitting another shot. The score would be 64-62 after three quarters of play.
 
Moore continued to dominate inside to start the fourth quarter as a jumper by her tied the game at 64-64. Jasmine Browne went down and put the Owls back up two, 66-64, with 9:29 left in the quarter. After Brown's field goal, the Owls did not trail again in the contest. WWU built its lead back to four points but the Bears answered back taking the led down to one point, 72-71, with 6:12 left in the contest. Again, the Owls grew the lead to five points, 80-75, after a pair of free throws by Gerald. The Bears made another run at the Owls and a jumper in the paint by Madison Ridout put the Bears down one, 80-79, with 2:25 left in the contest.
 
William Wood grew the lead to three, 86-83, after a layup by Greenlee, but Moore had an answer for the Bears as she hit another shot, putting Shawnee State down one, 86-85. After a pair of free throws by Gerald, the Owls led by three, 88-85, with 15 second left in the contest. Shawnee State had a chance to tie the game, but a three by Brandie Snow missed and Gebke got the rebound and was fouled. Gebke missed both free throws, which could have sealed the win and the Bears Bailey Cummins had two three chances in the final 10 second, both of which did not go in and the Owls hung on for an 88-85 victory over No. 3 Shawnee State. The win for the Owls is its first since, March 13, 2013 when the Owls defeated MidAmerica Nazarene.
 
By the Numbers
49 – The Owls scored 49 points in the first half of the contest against the Bears
24 – Jasmine Brown scored 24 to lead the Owls to the victory
22 – Kaycee Gerald followed with 22 points in the contest
46.2 – William Woods shot 46.2 percent from the floor in the win
48 – WWU scored 48 points in the paint in the victory
18 – The Owls scored 18 second chance points
13 – The Bears of Shawnee State committed 13 turnovers
2-of-20 – Shawnee State shot 2-of-20 on three-pointers in the contest