FULTON, Mo. – Kaycee Gerald led four players in double-figures as the William Woods University women's basketball team defeated Hannibal-LaGrange University, 78-63, on Saturday afternoon. Gerald led the Owls with 21 points.
 
Gerald was 8-of-14 shooting and has scored 21 points in back-to-back games. Jasmine Brown followed with 14 points. Bailey Rollins and Katharyn Nolan rounded out the double-figure scores with 12 and 10 points respectfully. WWU shot 53.4 percent from the floor.
 
WWU returns to action on Thursday, January 18th when they travel to Columbia, Missouri to face Stephens College in AMC action. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m.
 
Game Flow
The Owls offense came out to a fast start, as Bailey Rollins, Jasmine Brown and Hannah Bland got the Owls out to a 6-5 lead with 8:13 left in the quarter. After Bland's bucket, the Owls went scoreless for the next six minutes and the Trojans took a 13-6 lead. Kaycee Gerald got the Owls back on the board with a layup, with 2:40 left in the quarter. Hannibal-LaGrange stretched a lead to eight in the quarter, before the Owls cut the Trojans lead to six, 16-10, ending the first quarter.
 
WWU came out in the second quarter and took control of the game. A layup by Gerald put the Owls down one, 18-17, with 7:56 left in the quarter. Peyton Greenlee put the Owls ahead 19-18, after a pair of free throws. Both teams traded the leads and with the Owls down one, 24-23, WWU scored the next six points taking a five-point lead, 29-24. The Trojans cut the lead down to three, before the Owls grew the lead to nine, 37-28, after a Gerald layup. Hannibal-LaGrange scored one more point in the quarter and the Owls led, 37-29, at halftime.
 
Coming out of halftime, the Owls defense held the Trojans scoreless for the first four minutes of the quarter as WWU scored nine points stretching its lead to 17, 46-29. After a pair of free throws by the Trojans the Owls extended its lead to 21, 52-31, after back-to-back threes by Greenlee and Gerald. William Woods continued to hold onto a double-digit lead the remainder of the quarter and led by 18, 57-39, after three quarters of play.
 
The Owls and Trojans traded baskets to start the final period but WWU stretched its lead to 20, 64-44, after a layup by Katharyn Nolan. Hannibal-LaGrange could not get closer than 15 points the remainder of the contest. With the lead down to 16, Olivia Imhoff scored on a layup putting the Owls back up 18. The Trojans scored the final four points of the contest and WWU defeated the Trojans, 78-63.
 
By the Numbers
21 – Kaycee Gerald scored 21 points leading the Owls
6 – WWU hit six threes in the contest
8 – Jasmine Brown led the Owls with eight rebounds
9 – WWU recorded nine steals in the win
18 – William Woods dished out 18 assists in the victory
53.4 – The Owls shot 53.4 percent from the field against the Trojans
40 – WWU scored 40 points in the paint on Saturday