FULTON, Mo. - After shaking off a cold-shooting second quarter to close within three points in the third, William Woods (8-7, 2-4 AMC) couldn't hold on as Columbia College (16-3, 8-1 AMC) caught fire in the fourth, falling 73-55 on Saturday afternoon.
Natalie Thomas and
Peyton Dearing each knocked in 10 points for Woods in the doubleheader.
Woods jumped out to an early lead in the first quarter, with
Sydney Booker hitting a jumper on WWU's second possession and Thomas draining a three-pointer just inside the eight-minute mark.
Columbia tried to close the gap, pulling within a 5-4 margin, but a triple by
Mariah Prince extended WWU's lead back to four and the Owls extended as far as 13-6 with 2:44 to go on another three by Thomas.
The Cougars were able to tie things up at 15-15 with 25 seconds left in the quarter, then continue a 12-0 run through the first two minutes of the second quarter.
Both teams hit a rough patch over the next three minutes, with turnovers on four straight possessions, two for each team. Back-to-back blocks by
Katie Keilholz finally turned the tide for Woods, albeit only slightly, as
Ruthie Brown knocked down a layup with 5:25 on the clock to close the deficit to 22-17.
Columbia took a 32-22 lead into the halftime break, and held on to a double-digit lead through the first four minutes of the third quarter. A putback layup by Delaney Horstman gave the Cougars a 40-28 lead with 6:02 to play.
Dearing sparked a big run for the Owls at the 5:46 mark, draining a triple from the right side then grabbing a steal from Mallory Shelley to send
Jersee Wren on the break for an easy jumper.
Back-to-back baskets by Prince closed out the run for WWU, pulling the Owls within a 45-44 deficit with 45 seconds left, then Dearing nearly tied the game at 47-47, but her three-ball at the buzzer was just off the mark.
Unfortunately, Columbia seemed to be shooting at a 10-yard-wide basket in the fourth quarter, as the Cougars shot 11-of-13 from the floor and 3-4 from the free throw line in the final ten minutes.
The Owls hit the road for the next four games, traveling to Harris-Stowe State University on Monday in a game that was originally scheduled for January 9th. Tipoff is set for 5:30 p.m.
