FULTON, Mo. - Despite an abysmal 10-percent field goal mark in the first quarter, William Woods (8-6, 2-3 AMC) rallied for a 56-49 win over Cottey College (11-6, 3-4 AMC) on Thursday night.
Natalie Thomas knocked down nine of 12 free throws to lead the Owls with 16 points in the contest, coming up just one short of a double-double with nine rebounds.
After controlling the opening tip, a turnover by Woods gave Cottey the chance to open the scoring, with the Comets jumping out to a 7-0 lead on three straight baskets.
Jersee Wren was able to draw contact and knock down a pair of free throws at the 7:59 mark to cut the deficit to five, but both teams hit a shooting lull over the next five minutes.
Ruthie Brown finally broke the drought for Woods with a layup at 2:35, ending a stretch of seven field goal misses for the Owls and closing the gap to 7-5. Thomas collected four free throws over the final two minutes for WWU, but Autumn Wallace was able to respond with layups to send Cottey College into the first quarter break up 11-9.
The Owls shook out of the doldrums in the second quarter, connecting at a 41.7 percent (5-12) pace from the floor and holding Cottey to 25 percent (3-12) from the floor and 0-for-5 from long range to wrestle away a 20-19 halftime lead.
Wren followed up a
Macie Edwards layup with a three-pointer to extend WWU's lead to 25-19 out of the break, but Cottey was able to answer, eventually tying the game at 27-27 on a fast break layup with 5:10 on the clock. The teams traded the lead back and forth down the stretch, with Woods again trailing by one headed to the fourth quarter.
Both teams struggled out of the gate to start the fourth quarter, with Cottey using a 6-2 run over the first four minutes to extend to a 41-36 lead, but
Sydney Booker knocked down a pair of free throws followed by a
Mariah Prince steal around the 6:17 mark to spark a five-point Owls run that tied the game with 5:46 left.
A Sarah Hunt triple briefly reclaimed the lead for Cottey, but Booker wrapped a pair of layups around a miss by hunt to put Woods up 45-44. Wallace drew contact and converted both free throws at the 3:17 mark to answer for the Comets, but Woods stomped through the open door with a jumper by Prince to retake the lead at 47-46. Prince added a pair of free throws at the 2:17 mark and followed with a second-chance layup on the Owls' next possession.
WWU connected on six of its eight trips to the free throw line over the final 73 seconds of the contest and held Cottey scoreless until the game was far out of reach to run out seven-point winners.
With the exception of a third-quarter breakout, Woods frustrated Cottey defensively, holding the comets to 29.3 percent (17-58) field goal shooting on the night and out rebounded the visitors 37-36. WWU recovered to shoot 36.4 percent (16-44) from the floor and hit 22 of 30 (73.3 percent) from the free throw line.
The Owls are back in action on Saturday afternoon, hosting Columbia College. Tipoff for the AMC contest is set for 1 p.m.
