Lady Owls enter unique territory as tournament host

Meet fifth-ranked Lady Wildcats in first round tonight

There has been a sense of the unknown in Dan Chapla's tenure as head coach of the William Woods University Lady Owls basketball team.

That is, Chapla and his Lady Owls have never known a season that ends without a trip to the NAIA national tournament.

This time around, William Woods will experience its seventh straight appearance in a different fashion by serving as the tournament's host school.

The Lady Owls (23-8) - who drew a No. 7 seed and an automatic bid as host - will tussle with fifth-ranked and No. 2 seed Bethel (Tennessee) University (30-3) in the first round of the 35th-annual NAIA women's national championship at 6:15 tonight at the Independence Events Center.

William Woods' selection as the host school might seem like an odd choice given the number of NAIA programs in the Kansas City area. According to Chapla, that was the idea.

Rather than reward one local school with hosting duties and disappoint the others, the NAIA tabbed William Woods - a nearby "outlier" school that had become an annual tournament competitor.

Chapla praised William Woods athletic director Jason Vittone for lobbying on the school's behalf, then handling logistics once the announcement was made.

William Woods senior guards Blake French and Destani Stensrud see hosting as a notable distinction that the school and players can take pride in.

"I feel like it's an honor," Stensrud said. "It's something we've never done before and we can go and say, "Oh, we hosted a national tournament.'"

For Chapla, the accolade is another stepping-stone in his vision to establish the Lady Owls as a national program. Under his watch, William Woods has seven consecutive 20-win seasons and appearances in the NAIA Sweet 16 in 2011 and 2013.

Chapla attributes William Woods' ascension to fruitful recruiting, as evidenced by four-year players like French and Stensrud, and junior forward Nia Lateju, a junior-college transfer.

"I wake up every morning in the summer and in the fall trying to figure out how we're going to get back (to the tournament) again," Chapla said. "Because it's certainly not handed to us."

And that's how Chapla wanted the Lady Owls to approach this season. Sure they were guaranteed a spot in the field, but he would rather his team stay in the mindset of earning a tournament slot rather than resting on its automatic bid.

"I told our players from day one that I wanted to earn this trip," Chapla said. "I didn't want to have a mediocre season and then for us to take the spot of a deserving team."

William Woods' 69-62 American Midwest Conference home loss to Harris-Stowe State University on Jan. 6 - the team's fourth straight at the time - qualified as its lowest point of the season, according to Chapla.

"I think we had some players that might have thought that was the end of us, but we bounced back and they went on a nice winning streak from that point forward and never looked back," Chapla said.

The Lady Owls rebounded with eight straight wins and have prevailed in 14 of their last 16 games.

In previous seasons, William Woods believed its margin for error was never slimmer than the final two weeks of the season. Losing late in the regular season could be the difference between a tournament invitation or watching from home.

Chapla's hope that his team would finish strong rather than lean on its automatic bid soon came to fruition.

"It was more relaxed," French, a second-team all-AMC pick, said of the stretch run. "It wasn't as stressful. ... We still wanted to earn our spot there."

Awaiting William Woods tonight is a Bethel team that has won 24 of its last 25 games, averaging 76 points per contest and shooting 42 percent from the field. The Lady Wildcats are led by senior forward Tayla Foster, who enters tournament play averaging 22.5 points.

Lateju - a third-team all-AMC selection - will be tasked with guarding Foster.

"She takes a lot of shots, but she's also a big wide body and what scares me is that they do post her, so we can't put any guard on her," Chapla said. "So we may lose her a few times and she can get her points, but she can't have a 30-plus (point) night."

Senior guard Kenyatta Drake also averages 12.7 points and 10.2 rebounds for Bethel, while junior guard Jackliann Street averages 10.4 points.

Chapla noted that the Lady Wildcats field a disruptive half-court defense that can control the game. If the Lady Owls - who average 69 points per game and shoot 41 percent as a team - break the press, Chapla believes his team has the size to exploit Bethel.

Lateju is William Woods' second-leading scorer at 11.5 points per game, while sophomore forward Kennedy Volkart - an honorable-mention all-AMC choice - averages 9.9 points and 6.7 rebounds.

"They both have to have good games for us to have a chance, but we have to get them the ball first, which is easier said than done," Chapla said.

French - leading the Lady Owls in scoring at 11.7 points per game - added that William Woods' backcourt will also need to force the issue by penetrating the interior.

"Not just getting the ball into the post, but the guards (need to be) driving and then kicking out," French said. "But we have to get inside. We can't just rely on shooting the 3."

Though they're playing in the NAIA tournament for the seventh straight time, the Lady Owls are only 2-7 in the program's eight appearances overall.

This William Woods group only knows getting to the tournament. The next challenge will be figuring out how to stay.

"That next step is getting to that next round," Chapla said. "We've been there twice; can we get past that? Right now, I'm just worrying about Bethel, to be honest with you."

Tonight's winner will advance to face either No. 6 seed Carroll (Montana) or No. 3 Concordia (California) in a second-round matchup at 9:45 p.m. Friday.