FULTON, Mo. – After a slow scoring start in the contest, the William Woods University women's basketball team battled back and forced overtime against No. 20 Lindenwood University-Belleville on Thursday evening. The Lady Lynx came away with a 70-63 victory over the Owls.
 
After only scoring 16 points in the first half, the Owls responded by scoring 45 in the second half and outscoring the Lady Lynx by 17 points. Jasmine Brown led the Owls with 24 points on the night and Kaycee Gerald followed with 12 points. WWU shot 32.1 percent from the floor and the Owls had 14 offensive rebounds in the game.
 
WWU returns to action on Thursday, February 15 when they travel to Conway, Arkansas to face Central Baptist College in AMC action. Tip-off is set for 5:30 p.m.
 
Game Flow
The Owls came out struggling to score in the first quarter against the 20th ranked Lady Lynx. With 8:08 left in the quarter, Sommer Burgard hit a shot in the paint for the Owls. After the bucket by Burgard, the Lady Lynx scored the next 10 points and the Owls did not score again until Peyton Greenlee hit a runner in the lane with 32 seconds left in the quarter. WWU trailed 12-4 after one quarter of play.
 
The Owls slowly started scoring in the second quarter as over the first minute and a half, WWU had scored four straight on layups by Gerald and Brown. Lindenwood-Belleville's offense started heating up after Browns layup and the Lady Lynx stretched its lead to 10, 22-12, after a jumper by Heather Waldemar. Lindenwood-Belleville stretched the lead to as many as 17, 33-16, heading to halftime.
 
Over the first five minutes of the second half, the Owls went on a 12-4 run trimming the Lady Lynx lead down to nine, 37-28, after a Brown jumper. WWU continued to attack the Lady Lynx and a Hannah Bland three-pointer put the Owls down eight, 39-31, with 3:04 left in the third. William Wood continued to trim the Lady Lynx lead and the lead was down to four, 42-38, after a three-point play by Gerald. After three quarters of play, WWU trailed 46-38.
 
It looked as if the Lady Lynx would add to its lead as a Brianna Mueller three put the Lady Lynx ahead by 11, 49-38. WWU did not let Lindenwood-Belleville get a bigger lead and cut the lead down to three, 53-50, after a jumper by Brown in the paint. Later in the quarter, Brown and Gerald hit back to back three pointers and the Owls trailed by one, 57-56, with 3:07 left in the contest. Two minutes later, The Owls scored four straight points, and took a one-point lead, 60-59, with 36 seconds left. The lead grew to two, 61-59, after a Bailey Rollins free throw with 17 seconds left. However, the Lady Lynx went down and scored and tied the game at 61-61. WWU had a shot to win but Rollins shot fell short and the game was headed to overtime.
 
In overtime the Owls offense struggled to score, and the Lady Lynx scored the first nine points taking a 70-61 lead. WWU scored its first bucket with 15 seconds left when Tori Nesslage got an offensive rebound and put it back up and in. WWU was defeated by the No. 20 Lindenwood-Belleville, 70-63.
 
By the Numbers
24 – Jasmine Brown scored 24 points in the contest
17 – WWU outscored the Lady Lynx by 17 points in the second half
5 – The Owls hit five three-pointers in the loss
11 – Hannah Bland led the Owls with 11 rebounds
20 – William Woods committed 20 turnovers in the contest
25 – The Owls forced the Lady Lynx to commit 25 turnovers
32.1 – WWU shot 32.1 percent from the floor
13 – William Wood recorded 13 steals in the contest
32 – WWU scored 32 points in the paint