COLUMBIA, Mo. - Taking the lead five times and tying it three times, William Woods University (10-15, 8-11 American Midwest Conference) gave it all it had against a solid Stephens College (16-8, 13-5), but the Owls ultimately lost 68-57 to the Stars Thursday at Silverthorne Arena.
Peyton Dearing had the Owls' best offensive outing, scoring at least 20 points for the fifth time this season with a team-high 20 points, including a game-high 4-7 3-pointers.
India Atkins got it done at the stripe, converting a game-high 7-8 free throws for all seven of her points. And as she has been throughout the campaign,
Sydney Booker was a threat on both ends, notching 11 points (4-5 field goals and 3-3 free throws), a team-high seven rebounds, a tri-team-high three assists and a tri-team-high one block.Â
In a high-scoring first quarter, Stephens had the momentum first, going on a 6-2 run to begin the contest. Then, WWU answered with seven unanswered points, taking the lead when Dearing made the second of her two free throw attempts with 7:24 left in the first. After the Stars regained their advantage on their ensuing possession, Dearing put the Owls back in front, sinking both her free throws this time to put it at 9-8.Â
Following back-to-back Stephens baskets, Dearing had a personal 8-0 run with two 3-pointers assisted by
Jersee Wren to send William Woods ahead 17-12 with 3:49 remaining in the first quarter. Just over a minute later, Dearing capped her 14-point-first-quarter onslaught, draining her third 3-pointer to make it 20-15 Owls. With 45 seconds left in the first, WWU earned its largest lead when Booker posted a three-point play to extend the Owls' cushion to 23-17.Â
Heading into the second quarter, William Woods led 23-19, and it stayed on top for the first 1:39 of the quarter. Stephens took a 28-26 lead with 7:42 to go in the second, but the Owls posted eight points without reply to gain the advantage at 34-33 on
Ruthie Brown's jumper with 2:47 left in the first half. The Stars gained the upper hand on their next drive and remained in control until seconds before halftime. Capitalizing on a Stephens turnover, Booker got her layup to fall off a
Mariah Prince assist to give WWU a 39-38 lead at the break.
Unfortunately for the Owls, the Stars took the lead the rest of the way 54 seconds into the second half as Chu Crockett got a layup to fall for two of her game-high 30 points, which made it 40-39 Stephens. The third wound up being the lowest-scoring quarter as the Stars outscored WWU 13-8 and held a 51-47 advantage to open the fourth quarter. As was the case in the third, the Owls couldn't put a good run together, and they were outscored 17-10 by Stephens as they fell by 11 points.
William Woods had 23 rebounds (four offensive) with three second-chance points, tallied 19 points off 18 forced turnovers and converted 41.5% (17-41) from the field, 31.6% (6-19) from 3-point range and 77.3% (17-22) from the line. Stephens collected 31 boards (11 offensive) with eight second-chance points, scored 25 points off 22 forced turnovers and shot 54.5% (30-55) from the field, 7.7% (1-13) from deep and 50% (7-14) at the stripe.
The Owls conclude the last of their three straight three-game weeks, hosting Crowley's Ridge College (9-16, 3-16 AMC) at 1 p.m. Saturday at Anderson Arena in Fulton. In its first-ever matchup against the Pioneers, WWU prevailed 77-54 Feb. 3 in Paragould, Arkansas.
