Senior forward Rachel Baker tallied 18 points Thursday night as the No. 14 William Woods University Lady Owls remained unbeaten in the AMC with a 64-54 win over Park University at Anderson Arena.
With the victory, William Woods improved to 18-1 overall and 5-0 in the American Midwest Conference. The Lady Owls are tied for first place with No. 23 Columbia College (14-5, 5-0)
Baker also grabbed a game-high 11 rebounds Thursday night to spark William Woods to a 46-37 advantage on the boards. She added four blocks and two steals.
Senior guard Jestine Gerber also made it into double figures for the Lady Owls, scoring 10 of her 16 points in the first half as William Woods carried a 25-19 lead into halftime. The Lady Owls shot 40 percent (21-of-53) as a team and withstood 19 turnovers.
Brianna Beridon-Polley countered with 18 points to pace Park (9-6, 1-3), followed by Kristian Dodds with 10. The Lady Pirates shot just 31 percent (22-of-70) from the field and finished with 12 turnovers.
William Woods - which has assembled a six-game winning streak - squared off against Stephens College in an AMC matchup in Columbia on Saturday. Results were not available at press time.
Park University.....................74
WWU basketball (M)...........60
The Owls committed 24 turnovers against the first-place Pirates and watched their two-game AMC winning streak come to an end Thursday night at Anderson Arena.
William Woods University - which was down 35-26 at the break - dropped to 8-12 overall and 2-3 in the American Midwest Conference. No. 19 Park improved to 12-4 on the season and 4-0 in conference play.
Sophomore guard Logan Decker, who made three 3-pointers, provided 17 points to direct three players in double figures for the Owls, who shot 45 percent (21-of-47) as a team. Senior forward Vern Watkins, who was 5-of-6 from the field, contributed 12 points and freshman guard Jonathon Nutt had 10.
Nutt also collected a game-high 10 rebounds as William Woods was outrebounded by a slim 38-36 margin.
Reco Anderson put up a game-high 20 points to lead three players in double figures for the Pirates, who shot 43 percent (25-of-58) from the field and recorded 14 turnovers. Goldeng Deng was next with 13 points and Eduardo Quintero had 11.
The Owls' scheduled home game against Victory University on Saturday night was postponed and a makeup date has not been announced.
William Woods travels to St. Louis to face AMC opponent Missouri Baptist University at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 27.