FULTON, Mo. - After a spotty first half, William Woods (5-1) settled into a groove in the third quarter to earn a 67-59 win over crosstown foe Westminster College (2-4) on Tuesday.
Sydney Booker (20 pts, 12 reb) and
Aiyanna Tanksley (16 pts, 12 reb) each pulled down double-doubles for the Owls against the NCAA Division III Blue Jays.
The first quarter was a back-and-forth battle, with neither team able to extend past a five-point lead. Woods was first to the margin, as Tanksley followed up a three-pointer by
Jersee Wren with a swipe and coast-to-coast jaunt to put WWU up 7-2 inside the first two minutes.
Westminster managed to close the gap halfway through the quarter and pull ahead with an 8-2 run, capped by an Aly Bullock second-chance layup. The Blue Jays mustered their five-point margin with 1:44 left in the quarter, as Maile Peck knocked down a jumper to give WC a 16-11 lead.
After closing to a one-point deficit at the quarter mark, William Woods reclaimed the lead after a
Natalie Thomas block led to an easy layup by
Macie Edwards.
Katie Keilholz hit a three-pointer to put WWU up 20-18 with 8:23 on the clock and the Owls extended their lead as far as five in the second quarter.
Bullock came up big on another second-chance basket at the buzzer to tie things up at 30-30, but the deadlock was short-lived.
Tanksley and Wren combined to open the half with a 10-2 run for Woods and the Owls took a 52-44 lead into the fourth quarter.
Westminster assembled a brief comeback attempt midway through the fourth quarter, narrowing the score to 57-55 with 4:53 to go, but a Wren triple put Woods back in front by two possessions, with Booker coming up with a big block on the ensuing possession as part of a defensive stop by WWU.
The Owls held a tenacious Blue Jays team at arms length down the stretch to move to 5-1 on the year. WWU shot 40.0 percent (22-55) from the floor on the night, holding Westminster to a 30.8 percent (20-65) clip. Woods also held the edge (5-15 to 3-23) from three-point range, and had two extra free throw makes.
WWU is on the road for its next three contests, beginning with a 5:30 p.m. matchup at Bellevue University on Saturday.
