The Williams Woods University Lady Owls sizzled at the beginning and then had to survive at the end.
No. 3 seed William Woods tallied the game's first nine points, but then had to ward off a rally by No. 6 Park University in the final minute to preserve a 66-61 victory Wednesday night in the quarterfinals of the American Midwest Conference postseason tournament at Anderson Arena.
The victory was the seventh straight for the Lady Owls (23-7), who will have to wait until tonight to learn who their opponent will be in Friday night's semifinals. The quarterfinal matchup between No. 2 seed Lyon (Arkansas) College - ranked No. 16 in NAIA Division I - and No. 7 seed Harris-Stowe State University was postponed Wednesday night because of a winter storm in Arkansas.
Entering halftime with a 34-26 advantage Wednesday night, William Woods appeared to be pulling away when it built its biggest lead of the game, 14 points, midway through the second half. Sophomore forward Kelsey Scherder's basket with 9 minutes, 49 seconds to play gave the Lady Owls a 50-36 edge.
William Woods still seemed to be in good shape after senior guard Blake French made two free throws with 5:49 left to make it 56-44. However, Park countered with a swift 10-2 run to narrow the gap, closing within 58-54 on Amanda Laurenceau's basket in the lane at the 3:03 mark.
The two teams then went scoreless before junior forward Nia Lateju's free throws with :41 remaining extended the Lady Owls' lead to six points. The Lady Pirates cut their deficit to 62-59 when Channell Mackey connected on a 3-pointer with :21 to go, but senior guard Destani Stensrud and French both knocked down a pair of free throws in the final :17 to clinch William Woods' win.
French - who finished 6-of-8 from the field and 7-of-7 at the foul line - logged a game-high 21 points to pace the Lady Owls, who shot 54 percent (20-of-37) as a team but were plagued by 28 turnovers. Junior guard Marissa Webb also provided 10 points for William Woods, which converted 88 percent (22-of-25) of its free throws.
Sophomore center Kennedy Volkart grabbed a team-high eight rebounds to spark the Lady Owls to a 37-32 advantage on the boards.
Mackey produced 17 points to guide the Lady Pirates (16-13), who dropped both of their meetings with William Woods during the regular season. Jordan Brown followed with 14 points as Park shot just 32 percent (22-of-69) from the field and committed 15 turnovers.
Ryan Boland can be reached at (573) 826-2422, or by email at [email protected].