A crippling fourth quarter played a pivotal part in costing the William Woods University Lady Owls their winning streak.
No. 13 Freed-Hardeman (Tenn.) University outscored William Woods 18-6 over the final 10 minutes and the Lady Owls' four-game win streak came to an end in Saturday's 60-45 AMC loss to the Lady Lions at Anderson Arena.
William Woods (12-4, 7-3 American Midwest Conference) was down 35-27 going into halftime, but outscored Freed-Hardeman 12-7 in the third quarter to close within 42-39. The Lady Lions, though, started to gain separation by outscoring the Lady Owls 9-1 over the opening 5:08 of the fourth quarter.
Kim Mallory's basket with 4:52 left put Freed-Hardeman in front 51-40. The Lady Lions were up by as many as 18 points before William Woods senior guard Kendra Vernatti knocked down a 3-pointer as time expired to account for the final margin.
The Lady Owls were just 2-of-10 from the field and committed five turnovers in the last 10 minutes.
Senior forward Nia Lateju and senior guard Marissa Webb scored nine points apiece for William Woods, which shot 37 percent (17-of-46) for the game and finished with 17 turnovers. Senior Julia Wells collected a team-high 10 rebounds as the Lady Owls were outrebounded by a 37-31 margin.
Taleeah Cross came up with a game-high 22 points to lead three players in double figures for Freed-Hardeman (11-5, 7-3), which shot 39 percent (24-of-61) as a team. Mallory and Kenley Crowell supplied 13 points apiece.
William Woods travels to Columbia for an AMC matchup with Stephens College at 7 p.m. Thursday.