FULTON, Mo. – The William Woods University women's basketball team was defeated by No. 1 Freed-Hardeman University, 75-59, on Saturday afternoon in American Midwest Conference action.
 
Kaycee Gerald led the Owls with 17 points on 5-of-11 shooting. Hannah Bland followed with 13 points in the contest and Jasmine Brown added 11 to round out the double figure scores. Brown led the Owls with 10 rebounds for a double-double.
 
The Owls return to action on Thursday, February 8th when they travel to St. Louis, Missouri to face Harris-Stowe State University. Tip-off is set for 5:30 p.m.
 
Game Flow
The Lady Lions came out scoring the first four points of the contest before the Owls came back and went on an 13-0 run a four-minute span. During the Run, Hannah Bland hit a three pointer and had a layup scoring five points for the Owls. WWU led 13-4 with 5:42 left in the first quarter. Freed-Hardeman came back and trimmed the lead down to three, 16-13, after a three by Carrie Hatchel. WWU grew the lead back to five, but the Lady Lions cut the lead back to three, 18-15, after the first quarter.
 
The Lady Lions tied the game 50 seconds into the second quarter when Sandrea Sylman hit a three-pointer. After another bucket by the Lady Lions, Lexy Ganaway hit a three putting the Owls ahead by one, 21-20. After Ganaway's three, the Owls did not score for the next two minutes and Freed-Hardeman grew its lead out to ten, 31-21. WWU continued to battle and went on a 7-0 run trimming the lead down to three, 31-28, after a Bland jumper. That would be as close as the Owls would get in the first half and Freed-Hardeman led 36-31 at halftime.
 
Freed-Hardeman grew the lead to eight in the second half, but the Owls answered with a jumper by Bland and a three-point play by Brown bring the contest back to three, 39-36. The Lady Lions extended its lead back to nine after a Sylman jumper. The lead grew to 12 for the Lady Lions in the third quarter before the Owls closed out the quarter scoring the final five points and after three quarters of play, WWU trailed 55-48.
 
Bailey Rollins hit the first bucket for the Owls with 9:24 left in the fourth quarter but the Owls were held scoreless for the next three minutes and the Lady Lions stretched its lead to 14, 66-52, with 6:04 left in the contest. The Owls could not get the lead under double-digits for the rest of the contest and they were defeated by No. 1 Freed-Hardeman, 75-59.
 
By the Numbers
17 – Kaycee Gerald led the Owls with 17 points
3 – WWU had three players in double figures
16 – The Owls committed 16 turnovers in the loss to No. 1 Freed-Hardeman
10 – Jasmine Brown led the Owls with 10 rebounds
7 – William Woods dished out seven assists in the contest
4 – WWU hit four three pointers in the game
45.7 – William Woods shot 45.7 percent from the floor
20 – The Owls scored 20 points in the paint