FULTON, Mo. -
Sydney Booker recorded her second straight double-double - achieved in 26:54 - with 13 points and a game-high 13 rebounds and added three assists and three blocks as William Woods University (1-3) fell 69-66 in a down-to-the-wire free-throw-line-deciding home opener against future conference opponent Central Methodist University (3-1) Saturday at Anderson Arena.
Like their last game in which they won, the Owls had four players score in double figures. Joining Booker in that department was
Peyton Dearing with a game-high 16 points (6-6 free throws and 2-5 3-pointers),
India Atkins with 13 and
Jersee Wren with 10. Defensively, Atkins notched a game-high five steals, and
Mariah Prince had nine rebounds and a block.
Wanting to do well in front of its home fans for the first time this season, the Owls did just that by taking an early 7-3 lead on Wren's jumper off a WWU team defensive rebound with 6:26 left in the first quarter. Following that, the Eagles went on an 11-4 run to go up by three points (14-11) on Nautica Washington's 3-pointer with 2:25 to go in the first. But WWU finished the quarter strong with a
Katie Keilholz 3-pointer assisted by
Ruthie Brown and an Atkins bucket inside over the Owls' final two drives of the first, which gave them an 18-17 advantage heading into the second quarter.
William Woods carried over its excellent ending to the first into the second quarter, furthering its lead to six points (27-21) with 5:59 remaining in the first half when Atkins got a layup to fall after pulling down a defensive board. Thanks to Bell and Atkins in particular, the Owls kept chugging along and increased their lead to eight points (31-23), with Booker scoring a putback layup and Atkins going 2-for-2 at the free throw line to cap it with 4:05 left in the first half. Both teams' offenses were stagnant over the next minute, then Dearing drained a 3-pointer to put it at 34-25 WWU with 2:02 to go before halftime. CMU ended the first half on a 4-0 run to cut its deficit to 34-29 at the break.
The Owls controlled play to begin the second half by taking the first double-digit lead of the game at 41-31 with 7:04 remaining in the third quarter when Atkins hit a fastbreak layup following her steal. WWU remained comfortably in front, with Atkins again getting an end-to-end basket from her steal to make it 49-37 Owls with 4:45 left in the third. A few minutes later, The Woods guard play stepped it up, and Wren stole it from the Eagles before one of their players was given a technical foul and Dearing capitalized and converted two free throws to send the Owls in front 53-40 with 1:49 remaining in the third. However, CMU finished the third quarter on a 9-1 run, with a Washington triple narrowing its deficit to five points (54-49) going into the fourth quarter.
Carrying their momentum over to start the fourth quarter, the Eagles scored the first seven points, with Sharay Trotter's jumper in the paint putting them ahead 56-54, and they increased their lead to four on Kaelyn Johnson's fastbreak layup off a Sa'Mya Stevens defensive rebound. WWU responded and tied it at 58 when Wren made two free throws after collecting an offensive board, and 2:04 later, the Owls got the lead back on Keilholz's make from deep that put it at 61-58 with 4:03 remaining. CMU answered by tallying seven unanswered points to send it ahead 65-61. Just 54 seconds later, Wren recorded a three-point play that began with a layup to hand Woods a 66-65 lead with :18 left. Playing aggressive basketball, the Eagles stole the ball 11 seconds later, and Tristan Porter sent her layup into the hoop to make it 67-66 CMU, and it added two more points to its lead three seconds after that on two free throws by Stevens. Free throw shooting wound up being the difference, with Atkins getting fouled beyond the 3-point line with :00.8 left - going 2-2 at the charity stripe before the game-deciding free throws - she missed all three attempts as the Owls dropped a thrilling home opener.
William Woods collected 40 rebounds, forced 21 turnovers and went 23-of-69 from the field, 4-of-13 from deep and 16-of-22 from the line. Central Methodist posted 51 rebounds, forced 14 turnovers and converted 23-of-69 field goals, 4-of-13 3-pointers and 16-of-22 free throws.
The Owls head to Springfield to play in Evangel University's (0-2) brand-new gym, the AGFinancial Arena, at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday. It'll be the second-ever meeting between William Woods and the Valor, with Evangel winning the most recent matchup 92-70 on Nov. 9, 2021, in Springfield.
