Sydney Booker recorded her third double-double of the season in William Woods women's basketball's 68-58 victory against Baptist Bible College Saturday afternoon in Fulton.
It was a team victory for the Owls -- with all nine players getting at least one rebound and seven scoring -- though Booker's display was the most impressive.
The Owls' Booker scored a career-high 27 points and tied for her season-high in rebounds with 11. Booker earned her double-double with 8:30 left in the game and could've done so in the third quarter as she was just a rebound shy of reaching the feat after the quarter.
"Sydney Booker is one of the best players I've been around," William Woods coach Terry Nash said. "She's absolutely so coachable. And we challenged her every day to be the best player on the court, and most nights, she brings it that way. And it's just her ability to score around the basket, but she's also one of those players that can see the court too -- hell of a passer when doubles come. I can't speak too highly of what Sydney Booker means to this program. She is our best player, and I expect big things from her every day."
Fittingly, Booker started the scoring for William Woods by hitting a mid-range jumper that put the Owls up 2-0. Then, after a Kourtney Kendrick steal, the Owls' Natalie Thomas converted a layup and made it 4-0 William Woods.
Baptist Bible evened the score three times before taking a four-point lead following a 6-0 that put the score at 12-8. The Patriots' Harley Maxwell -- who scored a team-high 20 points -- registered eight of Baptist Bible's first 12 points.
The Owls answered with a 7-0 run ending with a Katie Keiholz 3-pointer from the top of the key with 46 seconds left on the clock to take a 15-14 lead. Keiholz's 3-pointer excited Woods' fans early in the game, though the Owls could not hold the lead for long.
Just 14 seconds later, Baptist Bible took the lead after Hailey Shannon made two free throws. The Patriots led 16-15 after the first quarter.
The lead changed twice to start the second quarter, but William Woods put together an 8-1 run to take a 25-19 lead with just under five minutes to play.
The Patriots cut the game to two with one minute remaining, but a layup from Thomas and a jumper from Booker gave the Owls a six-point lead heading into halftime, 31-25.
In the second quarter, the Owls' defense stepped up, allowing Baptist Bible to score only nine points and make two field goals.
"There was more attention to detail," Nash said. "We get in trouble this year of not showing our hands and getting teams to the foul line, right, (Baptist Bible) shot 18 free throws in that first half. ....They scored 11 points in the first half on free throws. And you got to adjust to that, right? I think we're fouling way too much this year. And that's the adjustment. We're continuing to call them (out) in practice. But I think in that second half, we did a great job of eliminating the free throw attempts they got, besides down the stretch."
After halftime, William Woods' offense was firing on all cylinders, as the Owls took a 10-point lead six minutes into the second half.
With the score 38-32, William Woods' Jersee Wren scored a layup in the paint; then Booker landed a close jumper to put the Owls up 42-32. On the defensive side, Thomas collected two rebounds between the time Wren and Booker buckets.
Thomas also did her part on offense, bringing it back to a 10-point William Woods lead after the Patriots' Shannon scored a layup.
Booker extended the Owls' lead to 13 by making a free throw and then a layup two offensive possessions later. The layup put William Woods up 47-34 with 3:21 left in the third quarter.
Baptist Bible cut the game to single digits a few times, but a foul on Madison Adolphen's 3-pointer with 1.1 seconds on the clock put the Owls up by 11 heading into the final quarter, 51-40.
A jumper from Booker and a 3-pointer from Keilholz gave the Owls a 16-point lead with 8:29 left in the fourth, 56-40.
The Patriots cut the game to eight just over halfway through the final quarter, but a three-point play from Thomas followed by a fast break layup by Booker put William Woods back up by 13 with just under two to play, 65-52.
A steal and assist from Kendrick to Olivia Hanks gave the Owls a 13-point lead with under 30 seconds to play. A 3-pointer from Baptist Bible's Gabby Adams closed the game with a 10-point Owls win.
In the second half, William Woods outscored the Patriots 36-24 and won the rebound battle 23-16.
"Continuing the defensive efforts (in the second half), but also limiting our turnovers," Nash said. "We had nine (turnovers) in that first half. ...We still turned the ball over (in the second half). But we valued the possession a little more in that second half. And at the same time, first-shot opportunities were limited in the first shots; they didn't get many offensive rebounds to start the third quarter. But you always ask your players to show up and make plays."
One of the Owls who made big plays was Thomas, who recorded 13 points, five rebounds and a block and steal each.
"She's our most veteran player," Nash said. "She's in year three, but even her first year was the COVID year, so she's technically still a sophomore. But Natalie she's continuing to be coachable. I asked her to continue to attack downhill and put pressure on the rest of the other teams, switching it up. ...If she's not setting up a jump shot, she's doing exactly what this team needs. And she's the glue, right? She can do a little bit of everything."
Meanwhile, Owls freshman Wren supplied the offense -- that scored their most points in a game this season -- with a season-high nine assists.
"Jersee Wren had so many assists out there that she was just being a true point guard," Nash said. "And she's young, right, but she's getting there."
William Woods (2-5, 0-1 American Midwest Conference) will try to keep it up when they take on AMC opponent Health Sciences and Pharmacy (5-3, 2-0) at 5:30 p.m. Thursday in Fulton. The Eutectics are led by the NAIA's leading scorer, Grace Beyer, who averages 31.9 points per game.
"I told our team this is our last opportunity to really go out there and play one more game before we get back in the conference game," Nash said. "Tweak a few things that we needed. ...Obviously, we started with (Missouri Baptist) a couple of weeks ago, but now we're back in to get the No. 1 scorer in the country. She's a great player. We're going to prepare for her, and we're gonna go out there and compete. I'm excited because we have a group that is excited about it. But we got to continue to work and get better."