The Lady Owls were outscored by the Lady Hornets 16-12 in the fourth quarter of their American Midwest Conference loss Saturday at Anderson Arena.
The game was tied at 48-all to start the fourth quarter and William Woods University (1-2, 1-2 AMC) went in front 53-51 when senior guard Tori Nesslage scored in the paint with 7 minutes, 26 seconds to play.
Harris-Stowe State University pulled even again with 6:48 left and took the lead for good at 56-53 on Kambri Davison's 3-pointer with 5:24 to go. The Lady Hornets twice led by six points before clinching their first win of the season.
Freshman guard Natalie Thomas hit 10-of-18 shots - including 6-of-11 from 3-point range - in logging a game-high 27 points for the Lady Owls. Junior guard Jheda Kennedy was 3-of-6 from behind the arc in adding 13 points for William Woods, which shot just 35% (19-of-55) overall and committed 19 turnovers.
Junior guard Arriyonn Phillips shared game honors by pulling down nine rebounds as the Lady Owls edged the Lady Hornets 38-34 on the boards.
Taia Smith produced 15 points in a reserve role to guide four players in double figures for Harris-Stowe (1-3, 1-0), which only shot 39% (22-of-56) from the field. Davison and Ronne'zje Elliot supplied 13 points apiece and Surina Finne contributed 11.
William Woods travels to St. Louis for an AMC matchup against the University of Health Sciences and Pharmacy at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday.