Box Score CONWAY, Ark. - Led by Sydney Booker with her fourth double-double this season, team-high 16 points and game-high 12 rebounds, William Woods University (3-4, 1-0 American Midwest Conference) made the 339-mile road trip a good one, opening AMC play beating Central Baptist College (2-2, 0-1) 73-58 Thursday at A.R. Reddin Fieldhouse.

"It's always great to start conference off with a win," William Woods women's basketball coach Terry Nash said. "Today, we played well together and valued each possession with under 10 turnovers. I'm always proud of my team, but today, we played well in a tough environment. We will continue to work and improve, but today was good."

The Owls excelled in the two departments that the winning team does more times than not, collecting 49 rebounds (18 offensive) and forcing 14 turnovers, while the Mustangs had 34 boards (six offensive) and forced nine turnovers. Having the edge in those statistics gave WWU 18 points off turnovers and 18 points off second-chance points, compared to CBC's zero points off turnovers and six second-chance points.

From the get-go, the Owls were using their defense to start their offense, already taking the lead for good just 1:17 into the contest when Katie Keilholz knocked down a 3 after Mariah Prince stole the ball from the Mustangs. That made it 3-2 WWU, and the Owls tacked on another six points with no reply on Jersee Wren, Layla Young and Ruthie Brown layups to increase their advantage to seven points with 3:27 to go in the first quarter. Booker used her inside presence to hand The Woods its largest lead of the first quarter, getting her putback to fall to make it 13-5 Owls. CBC ended the first quarter on a 6-0 run to narrow its deficit to 13-11 heading into the second quarter.

As they did in the first, the Owls had a solid start to the second quarter, beginning with a 13-5 run to take their first 10-point lead, 26-16, with 4:59 remaining in the half. In that stretch, India Atkins posted five points - three on a three-point play - and two rebounds, one defensive and one offensive. Just 57 seconds later, Prince put WWU back in front by 10 (28-18) in the first half for the second and final time when she went coast-to-coast for a layup off her steal. The Mustangs narrowed their deficit to three points, but Atkins went on a personal 5-0 run, draining a 3 and hitting a layup to bring the halftime score to 33-25 Owls. Atkins scored 10 of WWU's 20 points in the second quarter and recorded three rebounds.

William Woods solidified its lead even more in the third quarter, increasing it to as much as 15 points. To get there, the Owls went on a 17-10 run to open the second half. Six WWU players scored a field goal during that scoring surge, including a 3-pointer from Peyton Dearing and Kaedence Gipson. The latter's triple capped the run and made it 50-35 Woods with 2:52 left in the third quarter. Central Baptist ended the third quarter out-scoring WWU 7-2 to send it to a 10-point game (52-42) with 10:00 to go.

Yet again, the Owls had the hot hand in the early stages of a quarter, furthering their advantage to a game-high 22 points thanks to their 13-1 run to start the fourth quarter. Dearing tallied five points in that time, landing her triple to conclude the run and bring it to a 65-43 WWU lead with 5:55 remaining; Atkins also hit a 3-pointer during the 13-1 run. Only 51 seconds after that, the Owls went back on top by 22 when Mackenzie Mann made a jumper provided by Gipson. That comfortable of a WWU lead was too much for CBC to overcome, despite the Mustangs out-scoring the Owls 13-6 following Mann's basket.

Outside of Booker - she added one assist, one steal and a block with her double-double - William Woods' standouts were Atkins with 13 points, eight boards (two offensive) and two assists, Dearing with 10 points, four rebounds (one offensive) and three assists (team-high) and Prince with a game-high four steals - matched CBC's steals team total.

The Owls were 29-of-74 (39.2 percent) from the field, 7-of-29 (24.1 percent) from deep and 8-of-11 (72.7 percent) from the free throw line, and the Mustangs were 19-of-54 (35.2 percent) from the field, 6-of-19 (31.6 percent) from deep and 14-of-19 (73.7 percent) at the charity stripe.

Central Baptist's top players were freshman guard Riley Whittington with a game-high 19 points (5-of-9 field goals, 2-of-2 3-pointers and 7-of-9 free throws) and senior forward Tamara Christmas with a double-double of 12 points and a team-high 10 boards.

William Woods wraps up its Arkansas road trip, facing Williams Baptist University (3-1, 1-0 AMC) at 1 p.m. Saturday at Southerland-Mabee Center in Walnut Ridge.