FULTON, Mo. - William Woods University (2-4) had the game's largest lead at 41-28 with :44 left in the first half, but Bellevue University (5-1) outscored the Owls 21-10 in the fourth quarter to beat the hosts 63-60 Friday at Anderson Arena. It was the first of two WWU hoops "Warming up with Woods" games this week; fans who donated coats got into the Friday night matchup for free.
While the Owls didn't win,
Layla Young, a transfer from Edmonds College, scored her most points for WWU with a game-high 21, and she added five rebounds, including a team-high four offensive boards. Young went 8-14 from the field, 3-4 from the free throw line and 2-4 from deep. Jersey Wren also had an exceptional game, posting 17 points (4-5 free throws), five rebounds, one assist and one steal.
Sydney Booker was a rebound short of her fourth consecutive double-double, tallying 10 points and nine boards.
It was a back-and-forth first quarter, with the Bruins going in front by as much as five points at 17-12 with 1:57 left in the quarter. Then, the Owls went on a 10-1 run to end the quarter, and those final three came in exhilarating fashion when Wren swished in her half-court buzzer-beating heave into the hoop to hand WWU a 22-18 advantage heading into the second quarter.
After scoring their most points of a quarter in the first, the Owls played their best defensive quarter in the second, out-scoring Bellevue 19-12. During the second quarter, William Woods went on an extended 15-2 run that lasted 2:44. In that stretch, Young did most of the damage with nine points (one 3 and 2-for-2 free throws), while Wren had two points, three assists and a rebound and Booker finished the run with a putback layup that made it 41-28 Owls with :44 to go in the first half. Ashtyn Arnold landed her jumper with :37 left to narrow Bellevue's deficit to 41-30 at halftime.Â
In the first half, William Woods out-rebounded the Bruins 22-20 - 15-9 in the second quarter - and it was 14-34 (41.2 percent) from the field - 8-15 (53.3 percent in the first quarter) - compared to Bellevue's 11-31 (35.5 percent). But that changed in the second half, with the Bruins out-rebounding the Owls 21-14 - 11-3 in the fourth quarter - and going 9-25 (36 percent) from the field and 15-18 (83.3 percent) from the charity stripe - 6-6 in the third quarter and 9-12 in the fourth quarter - while William Woods went 8-25 (32 percent) from the field and 3-5 (60 percent) on free throws.
Bellevue started the third quarter on a 6-0 run, and then the Owls called timeout with 5:49 remaining, which paid off with Wren hitting her jumper off a
Katie Keilholz assist. Wren's bucket made it 43-36 WWU, and 4:55 later - staying in front throughout that time - the Owls furthered their advantage to eight points for the first of two times in the quarter at 48-40 on Booker's 2-point bucket off a Young offensive board and assist. Young did it all herself :29 after that, getting her putback to fall to give The Woods a 50-42 lead through three quarters.
The Owls let their eight-point lead diminish and eventually evaporate when the Bruins went on top for good on Zakiyyah Muhammad's layup off a Josias Mickens offensive rebound, handed them a 52-50 lead with 7:19 to go in the game. That was the eighth point of a 12-0 Bruins run that lasted 3:21. Up to the final buzzer, WWU stayed with Bellevue as Young went up and drained her layup off the last of
Mariah Prince's team-high three steals to put it at 62-60 Bruins with :22 on the clock. However, William Woods didn't score again, missing a game-tying 3-pointer with a second left to fall 63-60.
Muhammad led Bellevue with a game-high four blocks, a team-high 18 points (10-11 free throws and 4-7 field goals) and added six rebounds (five offensive). Mickens collected a game-high 11 rebounds (two offensive) and tacked on three points, two steals and an assist.
The Owls finished the matchup with 36 rebounds (11 offensive), 17 forced turnovers and made 22-59 (37.3 percent) field goals, 3-15 (20 percent) 3-pointers, and 13-16 (81.3 percent) free throws. The Bruins had 41 rebounds (13 offensive), forced 17 turnovers and converted 20-56 (35.7 percent) field goals, 2-19 (10.5 percent) 3-pointers and 21-27 (77.8 percent) free throws.
William Woods is back on the court for its American Midwest Conference opener against Central Baptist College (2-1) at 5:30 p.m. Thursday at A.R. Reddin Fieldhouse in Conway, Ark. The Owls and Mustangs split last season's AMC meetings, with WWU winning the Conaway, Ark. matchup 81-66 Jan. 25.
