Stewart, William Woods women edge past Sterling

Senior guard Paige Stewart's late 3-pointer and subsequent steal on defense helped William Woods secure an 82-81 win over the Lady Warriors on Saturday to close out the Southwestern Classic.

Stewart picked off a pass intended for Sterling's Kelsey Strobel in the game's final seconds to lock up a third win in a row for the Lady Owls.

William Woods (4-1) trailed by as many as 10 points in the second half, but went in front for good on Stewart's triple - her only points of the game - with 2 minutes, 3 seconds left.

All five Lady Owl starters finished in double figures, led by senior guard Blake French's team-high 19 points. French was 5-of-7 from the field and hit all three of her 3-pointers as William Woods connected on 29-of-56 field goals, good for a season-best 51.8 percent shooting clip.

Sophomore center Kennedy Volkart scored 16 points, junior guard Marissa Webb added 14 and senior guard Destani Stensrud and junior forward Nia Lateju chipped in with 12 and 10 points, respectively.

The Lady Owls played an exhibition contest at NCAA Division III Western Illinois on Monday. Results were not available at press time.

William Woods starts its American Midwest Conference slate on the road against Stephens College at 7 p.m. Thursday.