BELLEVILLE, Ill. – For the first time since the 2011-12 season there was a double-overtime contest in the American Midwest Conference Tournament. The William Woods University women's basketball team erased a 15-point deficit in the fourth quarter to force overtime against the No. 19 Lady Lynx of Lindenwood University-Belleville. It took two overtimes before the Owls won 86-80.
 
The Owls were led by Jasmine Brown who scored a career-high 34 points on 14-of-26 shooting. Hannah Bland followed with 20 points. Kaycee Gerald and Peyton Greenlee rounded out the double-figure scorers with 16 and 10 points respectfully. Brown, Bland and Gerald all collected a double-double in the contest.
 
With the win, the Owls advance to the AMC Semifinals where they will travel to Columbia, Missouri to face No. 6 Columbia College. Tip-off is set for 3 p.m.
 
Game Flow
In the first quarter, the Owls and Lady Lynx offenses came out cold. A pair of free throws by Alison Webb tied the contest, 4-4, four minutes into the game. Following the tie, Kaycee Gerald and Jasmine Brown combined to score the next six points and the Owls took a 10-4 lead. The Lady Lynx battled back and tied the game at 10-10. Gerald answered with a layup before the Lady Lynx scored the final five points of the quarter and led 15-12 after one quarter of play.
 
Lindenwood-Belleville came out and extended its lead to seven, 19-12, over the first minute of the second quarter. WWU slowly started coming back in the contest as Hannah Bland scored four straight and the Owls trailed by three, 19-16. The Owls and Lady Lynx traded baskets over the next few minutes and the Owls found themselves down 24-20. WWU trimmed the lead down to one, 24-23, after a bucket by Tori Nesslage and a free throw by Bland. However, the Owls only scored two more points in the quarter and the Owls trailed 29-25 at halftime.
 
The game remained close opening the third quarter. Lindenwood-Belleville grew the lead to five before the Owls answered and a jumper by Bland tied the game at 32-32. A few minutes later, the Owls took the lead 36-35 after a Bland layup. After Bland's layup, the Owls only scored two points over the next five minutes and the Lady Lynx stretched its lead to 14, 51-38. Lindenwood-Belleville stretched its lead to 15, 55-40, after three quarters of play.
 
The fourth quarter belonged to the Owls as they outscored the Lady Lynx 26-11 in the quarter. Over the first three minutes of the quarter, the Owls scored the first 11 points trimming the lead down to six, 55-49, after a Brown layup. Lindenwood-Belleville slowly grew the lead to 11, 64-53, with 4:42 left in the game. The Owls closed the contest on a 13-2 run over the final 4:42 of the contest. With seven seconds left, bland hit a layup tying the game at 66-66 and forced overtime.
 
With 2:16 left in the first overtime, the Lady Lynx led 70-68 before Bland hit a layup tying the game. The next time down for the Lady Lynx, Brown blocked Bria Lemirande shot and got the rebound and went down and hit the layup putting the Owls ahead, 72-70. Lindenwood-Belleville answered on a Torre Kohrmann jumper and tied the game with 27 seconds left. WWU had a shot to win but the shot was missed, and the Owls and Lady Lynx would go to double-overtime.
 
In the second overtime, the Owls scored the first four points as Gerald hit a layup and Brown hit a pair of free throws, putting the Owls ahead, 76-72. The next time down, the Lady Lynx hit a three trimming the lead down to one, 76-75. WWU responded by scoring the next seven points taking an 83-75 lead after a Brown layup. The Lady Lynx could not get any closer than five for the rest of the contest and the Owls knocked off the No. 19 Lady Lynx, 86-80, to advance to the AMC Semifinals.
 
By the Numbers
3 – The Owls had three players collect a double-double
34 – Jasmine Brown led the Owls with 34 points
4 – William Woods had four players score in double-figures
14 – Kaycee Gerald led the Owls with 14 rebounds
15 – WWU collected 15 offensive rebounds in the contest
9 – The Owls recorded nine steals
5 – WWU had five block shots in the contest
62 – The Owls scored 62 points in the paint