NORTH NEWTON, Kan. - William Woods University's (1-2)
Sydney Booker posted her first double-double this season (13 points and 10 rebounds [four offensive]) and went 7-8 at the free-throw line. Her last two makes with 22 seconds left sealed a tight 66-63 Owls victory, their first this season, over Bethel College (0-3) Tuesday at Thresher Gym.
While Booker got it done late, WWU had its best game as a team offensively to this early point in the season, with four Owls scoring in double figures - their most in a game this year.
India Atkins tallied the most points by a Woods player in 2024-25, with 15 (5-13 field goals and 4-5 free throws).
Katie Keilholz knocked down three 3s for nine of her 14 points, and of the Owls in double figures,
Jersee Wren made the most shots from the field, going 6-12 (1-2 from deep) for 14 points.
"Winning on the road is hard," William Woods women's basketball coach
Terry Nash said. "Today was not perfect, but we played hard enough to fight through a lot of adversity. Having four girls in double figures shows how unselfish of a team this is as well. We are excited to finally play a game at home. We have a lot to work on, but very proud of the girls."
Mariah Prince put WWU in front first when she went 2-2 from the charity stripe with 8:23 left in the first quarter. That was the Owls' only lead of the first, as the Threshers pulled through late in the quarter when they scored 10 points with no reply to hold a 21-10 advantage heading into the second quarter.
Bethel extended its lead to as much as 13 points (23-10) to begin the second quarter, then William Woods answered with a 17-2 run to take a 27-25 lead with 5:02 remaining in the first half. Atkins notched 11 of the Owls' points in that stretch, making two layups, a 3-pointer and four free throws to end the scoring surge and hand WWU the upper hand. Nine of the Owls' points were from deep in that extended, leading-changing run; Keilholz and
Peyton Dearing joined Atkins in knocking down a triple.
After that, there were a few lead changes before halftime, with WWU getting the last of them and tacking on to it before the break. A Keilholz free throw tied it at 29, and then Wren got a fastbreak layup to fall to put The Woods on top (31-29) for the rest of the first half with 1:22 to go. The pair of Owls sharpshooters that tied and gave them the lead were also furthering their cushion. Keilholz hit a fastbreak 3 following a
Kaedence Gipson defensive board, and with three seconds before halftime, Wren landed her shot from beyond the arc off a
Layla Young defensive rebound to put it at 37-29 WWU at the break.
Unfortunately for the Owls, Bethel got its offense going after halftime. The Threshers started the third on a 15-2 run to go ahead 44-39 with 2:45 left in the quarter. William Woods got out of its funk and registered eight unanswered points to end the third quarter up 47-44. Half of those points were scored by Atkins, converting two layups, the second being a putback that gave the Owls the lead they held the rest of the third with :58 remaining in the quarter.
Although the three-point winning margin didn't reflect it, William Woods stayed on top throughout the fourth quarter and even led by as much as 10 points twice. Keeping up their strong finish to the third quarter, the Owls began the fourth on an 11-4 run, with Wren scoring five points on a jumper, layup and a free throw, Keiholz three on a transition 3 off her defensive board and Dearing three on a layup and free throw. Wren's free throw capped the run and made it 58-48 WWU with 4:44 left.
Unlike the Owls' first 10-point lead of the fourth quarter, their second came in a stretch where both teams were getting baskets, as each team scored six points before WWU earned its second 10-point advantage. Booker accounted for four of the Owls' six points, with her putback layup sending them ahead 64-54 with 1:33 to go. WWU's lead nearly evaporated, as Bethel scored in three straight possessions, beginning with back-to-back 3s followed by a three-point play to make it a one-point Owls lead, 64-63.
On William Woods' ensuing possession, the Threshers made what proved to be the wrong choice - sending Booker to the line. Booker cashed in her free throws to increase the Owls' advantage to 66-63. Then, on Bethel's final possession, the Threshers missed a 3 when it mattered most, with Prince crashing the glass, pulling down a rebound to secure a William Woods win.
The Owls posted 33 rebounds (seven offensive), forced 15 turnovers and went 21-of-57 from the field (36.8 percent), 6-of-14 from deep (42.9 percent) and 18-of-23 from the line (78.3 percent). Bethel recorded 42 rebounds (15 offensive), forced 15 turnovers and converted 29-of-75 field goals (38.7 percent), 4-of-19 3-pointers (21.1 percent) and 1-of-6 free throws (16.7 percent).
William Woods will play in front of its home crowd for the first time this season when it hosts future conference opponent Central Methodist University (2-0) at noon Saturday at Anderson Arena in Fulton. While the Owls are 13-7 all-time against the Eagles, they're looking to beat them for the first time since they did on Halloween 13 years ago, 55-51 in Fulton.
