CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. - William Woods University (6-6) finished the 2024 side of its schedule with a matinee exhibition on New Year's Eve, falling 102-50 to NCAA Division I Southeast Missouri State University (3-8) Tuesday at Show Me Center. The Owls' offense was guided by Sydney Booker with a team-high 17 points (7-11 field goals) and India Atkins (5-5 free throws) and Katie Keilholz (three 3-pointers off the bench) with 11 each.

WWU scored its first two points when Booker made a second-chance layup to trim the Owls' deficit to 3-2 with 8:39 left in the first quarter. That was the closest Woods got to the Redhawks as SEMO rode a double-digit lead the rest of the way after Brianna Hill got her layup to fall to put the hosts up 17-6 with 3:43 remaining in the first. 

Late in the first, the Owls scored three points in two successive drives, with Keilholz knocking down a 3-pointer off a Ruthie Brown assist and Atkins recording a three-point play that started with an inside bucket. SEMO notched the last basket of the first when Lexi McCully drained a second-chance triple from Hill's offensive board, giving the Redhawks a 26-12 advantage through one quarter.

Keilholz continued to provide a spark for William Woods' offense in the first half, finishing her eight-point half with her second 3-pointer, from an Atkins assist. That was the Owls' final make of the first half, and it reduced their deficit to 56-22. SEMO tacked two more points to its lead on Indiya Bowen's end-to-end layup from her steal as the Redhawks held a 58-22 cushion at halftime.

In the third quarter, Booker and Atkins tallied four points each. They converted 2-of-2 free throws to account for half of WWU's 8-of-8 free-throw shooting clip in the third. Despite it being the Owls' highest-scoring quarter, SEMO outscored them 28-15; the Redhawks were ahead 86-37 through three quarters.

William Woods' leading scorer had her best quarter in the fourth. Booker posted seven of the Owls' 13 points in the final quarter, scoring a second-chance layup, 3-pointer and an inside bucket. Half of the Redhawks' 16 points in the fourth came from second-chance opportunities, accounting for only two of their 10 points in the paint - for the game, SEMO registered 50 points in the paint.

Defensive standouts for the Owls were Atkins with a team-high eight rebounds, Peyton Dearing with seven boards and Mariah Prince with a team-high three steals.

For the matchup, William Woods recorded 27 rebounds (eight offensive) with 12 second-chance points, notched four points off 11 forced turnovers and shot 29% (17-58) from the field, 18% (4-22) from 3-point range and 92% (12-13) at the free-throw line. Southeast Missouri State posted 45 boards (15 offensive) with 26 second-chance points, tallied 31 points off 24 forced turnovers and went 49% (41-84) from the field, 35% (16-46) from deep and 100% (4-4) at the charity stripe.

The Owls (4-2 American Midwest Conference) open the 2025 portion of their schedule with an AMC contest at Cottey College (8-4, 4-2 AMC) at 5:30 p.m. next Tuesday at Hinkhouse Center in Nevada, Mo.