PARAGOULD, Ark. - Scoring its most points since Dec. 14, William Woods University's (9-12, 7-8 American Midwest Conference) offense was enough for it to breeze past Crowley's Ridge College (8-13, 2-13) 77-54 Monday at Carter Activities Center. The Owls and Pioneers were initially slated to play on Jan. 11, but the matchup was rescheduled due to winter weather that day.
"Today was an example of team basketball," William Woods women's basketball coach
Terry Nash said. "When we move the ball and execute, we play well. Seventeen assists always make a coach happy. Proud of our team."
William Woods got offensive production throughout its roster. Putting up the best game overall was
Peyton Dearing, who dropped a game-high 18 points (6-18 field goals, 4-5 free throws and two 3-pointers) and dished out her most assists as an Owl with seven. Off the bench, 3-point shooting specialist
Katie Keilholz epitomized that, nailing a game-high 5-9 from deep to account for all her 15 points and all but three of WWU's 18 reserve points.
On the defensive end, William Woods' four and five continued their strong form of late. Four
Mariah Prince tallied 10 rebounds, four steals (game-high) and three blocks (game-high), and five
Sydney Booker brought down a game-high 16 boards - six more than any other player - and added a block.
After Crowley's Ridge took 2-0 and 4-2 leads, the Owls scored eight points without reply, with back-to-back Dearing and
India Atkins triples assisted by
Jersee Wren capping the stretch. Atkins had five points during the run, and her final three made it 10-4 WWU with 6:07 left in the first quarter. The Pioneers had the momentum for the remainder of the first, going on a 9-4 run to make it a 14-13 Owls advantage heading into the second quarter.
Thirty-one seconds into the second quarter, Crowley's Ridge tied it at 14 after Kiyuana Foster converted 1-2 free throws. Keilholz fired back for WWU, launching a 3-pointer provided by Dearing into the hoop to put it at 17-14 Owls. A pair of Southern Boone graduates in green and white made the play to double WWU's lead to 20-14 as Prince collected an offensive rebound and Wren landed her shot from beyond the arc. However, the Owls didn't hold onto their six-point cushion for long, with the Pioneers venturing on a 13-6 run to send them ahead 27-26. Following a pair of fruitless possessions, Booker gave WWU the lead it didn't relinquish, knocking down two free throws to give the Owls a 28-27 advantage 2:09 before halftime. That was the start of an 8-2 WWU stretch to finish the half - Booker and Prince each had four points in the run - handing the Owls a 34-29 advantage at the break.
Just over halfway through the third quarter, William Woods got its lead up to double digits (48-38) thanks to Keilholz, who sank her second 3-pointer and got her third to drop on the Owls' next possession to send them ahead by 13. WWU furthered its advantage to 20 points (60-40) before the end of the third, using a 17-2 run go to get there. During that stretch, Keilholz drilled her fourth triple of the game, while Prince started the run with a layup and ended it with 1:15 to go in the quarter, making two free throws.
Crowley's Ridge got its deficit down to 13 points (60-47) with 8:07 left in the fourth quarter, then the Owls tallied 10 unanswered points to go back up by 20 (70-50) with 5:04 on the clock. Keilholz's fifth and final 3-pointer opened WWU's 10-0 run, and then Prince got two straight layups to fall before Atkins cashed in a triple to end it. The Owls took the first of their game-high 23-point leads on Dearing's putback that put it at 75-52 with 2:16 remaining, then
Brooklyn Dougherty had a putback of her own to seal a 77-54 Woods victory and finish the scoring with 1:16 on the clock.
The Owls collected 39 rebounds (eight offensive) with 13 second-chance points, tallied 12 points off 12 forced turnovers and shot 44.3% (27-61) from the field, 38.5% (10-26) from 3-point range and 76.5% (13-17) at the free-throw line. The Pioneers had 33 boards (12 offensive) with 11 second-chance points, scored 15 points off 14 forced turnovers and converted 28.8% (19-66) from the field, 23.5% (4-17) from deep and 63.2% (12-19) at the charity stripe.
William Woods travels back to Missouri and will face rival (RV) Columbia College (19-2, 13-2 AMC) at 5:30 p.m. Thursday at Arena of Southwell Complex in Columbia. In their first matchup this season, the Owls fell 69-49 to the Cougars on Dec. 12 in Fulton.
