ST. LOUIS, Mo. - After twice seeing the contest postponed due to winter weather, William Woods (12-8, 6-5 AMC) was able to wrap up the front half of the conference schedule on Monday night, coasting to a 70-54 win over Harris-Stowe State University (3-16, 1-10 AMC).
Sydney Booker and
Katie Keilholz each scored 15 points and grabbed five rebounds on the night.
The first quarter opened on a bit of the wrong foot for the visitors, as the Owls trailed for the better part of the first ten minutes. Woods turned the ball over on its opening possession and allowed a second-chance triple by Samara Swire, but Keilholz was able to answer.
WWU finally battled into a 14-13 lead with 1:37 left in the quarter, as
Peyton Dearing knocked down a triple off a feed from
Natalie Thomas. After Booker was unable to convert her steal on the next possession into points, HSSU briefly reclaimed the lead with a pair of free throws, but it was the last lead of the half for the Hornets as
Ruthie Brown converted a three point play and hit a putback at the buzzer for a 19-16 margin.
Woods stepped up the defensive pressure in the second quarter, holding Harris-Stowe to 4-of-13 shooting. The Owls made the most of it with an 11-4 run to take a 10-point lead at the 4:32 mark. Booker knocked down a three-point play with 6:00 on the clock, with
Madison Adolphsen cementing the 30-20 lead for WWU with a layup from
Olivia Hanks.
Both teams hit a cold stretch over the final minutes of the half, but Woods held onto a four-possession lead - 34-25 - going into the locker room.
After the intermission, the Owls were slow to find their footing, giving Harris-Stowe the chance to battle back into the game. The Hornets posted a 12-2 run to take a 37-36 lead with 5:47 left in the third. Samara capped the run with a jumper to pull HSSU within one followed by an assist to Alicia Robinson as the Hornets pulled ahead.
Booker hit a runner in the lane a minute later to put Woods back in front 38-37, then converted a pass from
Mariah Prince to answer a free throw from Harris-Stowe and give the Owls the lead for good.
Keilholz knocked down a triple at the buzzer - one of her five 3FG makes on the night - off a helper from Dearing to extend WWU's margin to 53-41 at the end of the third. The Owls kept the lead at three possessions or more for the entirety of the fourth quarter.
Woods shot 44.4 percent (28-63) in the contest, including a 42.9 percent (6-14) pace from long range. Harris-Stowe struggled from distance (18.2 percent on 2-11 shooting) and only managed a 37.0 percent (20-54) overall pace.
The Owls resume the back half of the AMC schedule with another road trip to St. Louis, as Woods takes on UHSP on Thursday, Feb. 8.
