HANNIBAL, Mo. – The William Woods University women's basketball team closed out the regular season with a close loss at Hannibal-LaGrange Saturday afternoon. The 59-54 loss brings the Owls to 4-11 heading into postseason.
 
The Owls will host Hannibal-LaGrange in the opening round of the American Midwest Conference Championship on Monday at 7 p.m. The Owls enter in as the no. eight seed while HLG comes in as the nine seed. 
 
By The Numbers
47.9 – The Owls shot 47.9% from the field throughout the 40 minutes.
32 – The Owls scored 32 of their points within the paint.
19 – Natalie Thomas put up 19 points while hitting eight jumpers.
12 – Jheda Kennedy shot 50% from the field for 12 points.
6 – Skylyr Leake pulled down six boards, all coming from the defensive end. 
3 – Jheda Kennedy had three assists, and Amaya Keeling grabbed three steals.
 
Game Flow
HLG scored first to start the game, and pushed out a five-point lead after 4 ½ minutes of play, 9-4. The Owls outscored HLG 13-2 to close out the quarter with a six-point lead, 17-11. Natalie Thomas scored six of the run's points. 
 
A jumper from Jheda Kennedy gave the Owls an eight-point lead to start the second quarter, but HLG pushed an 11-2 run over the next 2 ½ minutes to hold a one-point lead with 7:04 on the clock, 22-21. Another jumper from Kennedy took back the lead, and three Owls scored two points apiece to take up a seven-point lead with 1:03 to play, 29-22. HLG scored the final points of the quarter, bringing the Owls' lead to five heading into halftime, 29-24.
 
The Owls were outscored 22-8 in the third quarter, putting them down by nine at the end of three, 46-37.
 
HLG pushed out a 12-point lead with 3:51 on the clock, but a jumper from Tori Nesslage started an 8-0 run over the next 2 ½ minutes to bring the Owls within four, 53-49. A three from Thomas brought the Owls within three with 17 seconds on the clock, but the Owls were forced to foul to stop the clock. HLG sunk both, taking up a five-point lead with 11 seconds to play, 57-52. Kennedy hit a jumper in the paint following a timeout to bring the Owls back within three with :06 to play. Again fouling to stop the clock, HLG hit both to go back up by five. The Owls set a play up for one last three, but the shot missed, ending with a five-point loss, 59-54.