Conference play has started out for MUW basketball in a big way as both squads turned up the tempo last week to grab a pair of road St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference victories.
After a big win at Eureka College – one that took 18 hours to finish due to a citywide power outage – MUW took on Blackburn College the next day in a much more contested affair, but still pulled out an 82-80 triumph – its fifth straight league victory.
The W was riding a 78-60 lead with 3:28 left to play when the Beavers kicked it in high gear and rattled off a 13-0 run that left the Owls clinging to a five-point lead with only 48 seconds left. The two teams each traded a quick layup before a foul sent Shephard to the line with the opportunity to keep his team ahead and sunk two of four shots, but the Beavers weren’t going away. Trailing 82-75, Blackburn’s Jaylen Jeter canned a shot from deep with 10 seconds left on the clock and managed to bank in a layup as time expired, but it wasn’t enough to steal the win from the Owls.
Huguley again led the team with 27 points and 16 rebounds, McCaine scored 23 points and Shephard chipped in 11 points, three rebounds and three assists to help their team hold on to the second-place spot in the conference standings.
MUW women go 2-0
For The W’s women’s team (4-10, 3-3), Conley Langford put on a show Thursday against Eureka College with a season-high 31-point-double-double – her career and school record 21st – that led her group to an 88-61 win.
As the Owls climbed to a 42-23 cushion at halftime, Lanford was already sitting with 23 points at the break and finished the game with 12-for-22 shooting from the floor that includes a 5-of-12 mark from deep. Calysia Phillips added 14 points and both Mia Bowen and Jessica Hughes scored 11 points each.
On Saturday in a much more climactic contest, The W found itself tied at 75-75 with 20 seconds left in overtime at Eureka College and badly needing a bucket.
In stepped New Hope product Jakayla Smith. The freshman guard notched a steal in the crucial moment and scurried down the court for a layup in the waning seconds that lifted the Owls to a 77-75 victory.
“Jakayla Smith is a straight ‘dog’,” head coach Eric Vaughn said. “For a freshman, she has very little fear. How many 5-foot-2 kids in the country are getting a double-double with rebounds?”
Smith finished with 10 points, 11 rebounds, two blocks and four steals alongside Fantaisa Wilson, who also scored 10 points with six rebounds and a whopping 10 steals. The W was led by Langford’s 20 points and 14 rebounds, and Bowen’s 17 points and 13 boards, which netted the team its third straight conference win.
The women’s team is back on the court at 5:30 p.m. Thursday against visiting Principia College while the men’s team tips off next at 7:30 p.m. Saturday at Southeastern Baptist College in Laurel.
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