Box Score FULTON, Mo. – Natalie Thomas scored 19 points and Sydney Booker added a double-double with 13 points and 13 rebounds in a tale of two halves, as William Woods University held off Missouri Baptist University 75-70 at Anderson Arena, Saturday in Fulton.

Jersee Wren added another 12 points for the Owls, who had the Spartans doubled up at halftime. Tyler Butler had half of MBU's points at halftime, but she made her mark in the second 20 minutes, scoring 18 of a game-high 25, adding a double-double with 12 rebounds. Aliyah Williams and Bryce Dowell also added double figures for the Spartans with 12 points each.
 
WWU improved to 11-8 (5-5 AMC), while Missouri Baptist fell to 6-14, 4-7 in the conference.
 
William Woods kept Missouri Baptist off the scoreboard for the game's first 6:53, building an 8-0 lead with 4:26 in the first quarter on a basket in the lane by Booker. MBU continued to struggle in the game's first 10 minutes, as the Owls held the Spartans to two first-quarter field goals and 18.2 percent from the floor.
 
By the 1:00 mark in the quarter, the Owls led by 10 points, and Booker struck again from the paint with 50 seconds left to give the Owls their biggest lead of the first quarter, 15-4.
 
Missouri Baptist chipped back with a Butler free throw a minute in to the second quarter, getting the game back to single digits, but the next five minutes belonged to the Owls, as Ruthie Brown's free throw with 4:52 in the half made it 23-9.
 
Wren scored twice, on back-to-back possessions near the 1:00 mark in the second quarter, and with 27 seconds left, Booker scored from the foul line to send the Owls to intermission up 31-15.
 
The Spartans introduced a high-energy, full-court press to begin the third quarter and the result was a big run, cutting the Owl lead to six on a triple by Nyah Ford with 5:00 left in the quarter. MBU tripled its scoring output in the third, outscoring WWU 30-20, and the Owls clung to a 51-45 lead going in to the fourth.
 
Four minutes in to the fourth, the Owls still claimed a three-point lead, but with 6:01 in the game, Butler scored in the lane to cut the lead to one, and a minute later, she hit from the same spot to give MBU its first lead of the game, 59-58, with 5:19 to play.
 
Booker quickly reclaimed the lead on the Owls' next possession, and with 4:42 to play, Katie Keilholz drained a three to return the lead to two possessions, 63-59. Butler had the Spartans back within one point with 1:44 to go, but Wren connected on a pair of free throws at the one-minute mark, and Thomas followed with two more at 28 seconds, as the Owls converted five of their final six attempts from the foul line to secure the redeeming win.
 
A makeup game is next for William Woods, traveling to St. Louis Monday night at 5:30 to take on Harris-Stowe State University.