Lady Owls take down a top seed

No. 8 seed William Woods surprises third-ranked Shawnee State in NAIA first round

BILLINGS, Mont. - The William Woods University Lady Owls persistently resisted in perpetrating a notable shocker.

No. 8 seed William Woods raced out to an early 10-point lead and then cut off every comeback attempt by top-seeded, third-ranked Shawnee State (Ohio), allowing the Lady Owls to outlast the Bears for an 88-85 first-round win Thursday night at the NAIA Division I national championship.

William Woods' victory marked only the sixth time a No. 8 seed has knocked off a No. 1 since the tournament went to its current seeding format in 2003.

The Lady Owls are making their ninth straight appearance at the national tournament, and 10th overall, but are moving on to the second round for just the third time. William Woods (21-11) will face No. 5 seed John Brown (Ark.) (23-8) at 9 p.m. CST tonight. John Brown - ranked No. 19 - held off No. 4 seed Benedictine (Kan.) 74-72 in first-round play Thursday night.

The Lady Owls had to wait out some tense final seconds at Rimrock Arena at MetraPark before they could secure their exhilarating triumph Thursday night. William Woods took a narrow 64-62 edge to the fourth quarter and Shawnee State pulled even on Jonessa Moore's basket with 9 minutes, 41 seconds left in the game.

Junior guard Jasmine Brown scored on the Lady Owls' next possession to put them in front to stay, but the Bears closed within a point eight times. Moore's putback with :16 left brought Shawnee State (31-3) within 86-85.

Freshman guard Kaycee Gerald connected on a pair of free throws with :15 remaining to give William Woods a three-point lead, but the Bears still had a chance to tie the game and force overtime. Brandie Snow missed a 3-point attempt for Shawnee State with :10 to go, but then senior guard April Gebke failed to hit a pair of free throws for the Lady Owls with :09 to play.

Bailey Cummins was able to launch a pair of 3-point attempts for the the Bears with time running out, the latter as the buzzer sounded, but both were off the mark and William Woods could finally exhale and celebrate.

The game was tied at 2-all when the Lady Owls peeled off a 12-2 run to establish their 10-point advantage. Freshman guard Peyton Greenlee scored off a Shawnee State turnover to put William Woods up 14-4 with 4:39 left in the first quarter.

The Bears countered with an 18-7 run to grab a one-point lead, but Gerald was fouled on a 3-point attempt as the quarter came to a close. She converted all three free throws to put the Lady Owls back on top 24-22.

William Woods took charge in the second quarter, building a 44-32 advantage on Gerald's two free throws with 4:40 remaining in the first half. Shawnee State was able to shave its deficit to six points, but a Greenlee 3 with :36 to go sent the Lady Owls into halftime with a 49-40 lead.

Senior forward Kelsey Scherder buried a 3 at the 8:12 mark of the third quarter to give William Woods a 12-point cushion again at 54-42, but the Bears wouldn't fold. Shawnee State outscored the Lady Owls 20-10 over the rest of the period to make it a two-point game going to the fourth quarter.

Brown - who was 8-of-15 from the field - tallied 24 points to guide four players in double figures for William Woods, which shot 46 percent (30-of-65) as a team. Gerald followed with 22 points, making 14-of-15 free throws as the Lady Owls shot a sizzling 85 percent (22-of-26) from the line.

Greenlee added 17 points and Scherder had 11. Gerald posted a double-double, collecting a game-high 12 rebounds as William Woods was outrebounded by a 41-34 margin.

The Lady Owls survived a 36-point rampage by Moore, who knocked down 13-of-19 shots as the Bears shot 46 percent (33-of-72) from the field. Madison Ridout and Lydia Poe both provided 10 points.