BILLINGS, Mont. - The William Woods University Lady Owls' stunning run finally ran out of steam.
No. 8 seed William Woods was outscored by top-seeded, fifth-ranked Vanguard (Calif.) 59-24 over the final three quarters in their NAIA Division I quarterfinal matchup late Saturday night as the Lady Owls were roughed up by the Lady Lions 71-34.
William Woods - making its ninth straight appearance in the national tournament, and 10th overall - ended the season with a 22-12 record. The Lady Owls reached the quarterfinals for the first time in school history by jolting top-seeded, third-ranked Shawnee State (Ohio) in the first round, then rallied from an 18-point deficit to down No. 5 seed John Brown (Ark.) University in the second round.
William Woods battled Vanguard (30-3) on even terms for most of the first half Saturday night at Rimrock Auto Arena in MetraPark. Senior forward Kelsey Scherder's 3-pointer gave the Lady Owls what would turn out to be their biggest lead of the game at 8-4 with 6 minutes, 27 seconds left in the first quarter.
Senior center Kennedy Volkart's basket then tied the game for William Woods at 10-all with 2:13 to play in the period, but the Lady Lions went back in front when Maya Kennedy scored with :48 remaining. The Lady Owls took their final lead at 16-15 on another Scherder 3 at the 8:01 mark of the second quarter.
Senior guard April Gebke made a pair of free throws with 3:57 to go in the first half as William Woods trimmed its deficit to four points, but Vanguard closed the half with a 12-4 run and carried a 35-23 edge into the break. The Lady Lions turned the game into a runaway in the third quarter, outscoring the Lady Owls 20-3 to widen their advantage to 55-26.
Scherder and Volkart tallied nine points apiece to guide the Lady Owls. William Woods shot a sparse 27 percent (12-of-45) for the game, making just 4-of-20 shots in the second half.
Gebke finished with six points, passed out eight assists and collected a team-high six rebounds as the Lady Owls were outrebounded by a decisive 39-22 margin.
Claire Lamunu delivered a game-high 18 points to spur three players in double figures for Vanguard, which shot 46 percent (29-of-63) from the field. Kennedy followed with 14 points and Victoria Chea added 12.