Box Score Bolivar, Mo. - The Southwest Baptist Women's Basketball team got 68 of its 78 points on the day from its starting five to lead them to a 78-69 win over William Woods on Saturday afternoon. The starting five of Ray'Shionne Smith, Megan Rosenbohm, Caylee Richardson, Morgan Henderson, and Madison Strong all were in double figures.

Rosenbohm led the charge with 19 points and tied for a game high of five assists. Henderson and Strong added 13 points a piece while Henderson also had five assists. Despite foul trouble for most of the game, Richardson scored 12 points on 83% shooting from the field. Smith rounded out the starters with 11 points. For the afternoon, the Bearcats converted 47.7% of their field goals, 25.9% of their threes, and 90.0% of their free throws. They only committed five turnovers on the day while forcing 17 turnovers from the Owls.  

Strong started the game white hot as she scored the Bearcats first 11 points of the game, highlighted by a couple of long range bombs. William Woods would outscore SBU in the first quarter though by a 23-16 margin. However, this was the only quarter that the Owls would have an advantage over the Bearcats. In the second quarter, SBU was able to trim the William Woods down to just one, 41-40 headed into the half. The third quarter was a tight affair with both teams trading blows and exchanging leads three times. Smith scored nine of her 11 points in the quarter, and aGokce Cetin three at the end of the quarter gave the Bearcats a 56-54 lead and it was a lead they would hold onto the rest of the game. A quick 7-0 spurt from SBU in the middle of the fourth put some separation between the Owls and Bearcats. The SBU lead would get as high as 13 on Sydney Bandy three before cruising to a 78-69 win.    

The Bearcats return to the floor and to MIAA conference play on Thursday night when they host the Nebraska Kearney Lopers. Tipoff is scheduled for 5:30 PM from the the Meyer Sports Center in Bolivar.