The W’s volleyball team’s first-ever run in the St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference tournament came to a close on Saturday in a semifinal 3-0 loss to Westminster College in Greenville, Illinois.
The Owls (11-21) put forth a valiant effort against the Blue Jays (28-7), forcing 18 ties and 10 lead changes, but they dropped the first two sets 25-21 and 25-22 and let the third set slip through their fingers, 25-19. Second-team All-SLIAC selection Skye Letson led the team with 11 kills, and first-team All-SLIAC member Megan Neeb had 10 kills. Sydney Barrett had five kills, and Madyson McBrayer finished with four kills. As a team the Owls committed 21 attack errors and gave up 39 kills to the Blue Jays. The loss marked the close of the winningest season in modern program history.
Later on Saturday, Westminster went on to the SLIAC championship match and lost 3-2 to Greenville University.
Basketball
After opening its season with a victory on Nov. 11, The W’s men’s basketball team fell in back-to-back losses to begin the season with a 1-2 start.
On Saturday in Abilene, Texas, the Owls lost the rebound battle 44-30 against McMurry, which turned out to be a factor in their narrow 84-82 loss to the Warhawks. Jackson Reid banked home a layup to bring The W within one point, 80-79, with 19 seconds left in the game, and the team fouled the Warhawks to send them to the line to try and get the ball back sooner. Their plan seemed to be working when McMurry clanked the first shot from the stripe on the one-and-one opportunity but the Owls failed to grab the rebound and were forced to keep fouling. The Warhawks cashed in four more free throws to ice the game.
Devin McCaine led the team with 26 points on 6-of-8 shooting from deep, three rebounds and two steals, and Reid was right behind with 20 points and four boards. Joe Haze Austin had 15 points, five rebounds, three assists and four steals, and Tyler Sheppard chipped in eight points.
On Friday the team lost its first game of the season, 113-90 at Howard Payne University, in which the depth of the Yellow Jackets proved to be the difference.
Howard Payned pulled away 60-44 in the first half and outscored the Owls 53-34 the rest of the way, piling on a total of 16 3-pointers and 58 points generated by its bench. Five Yellow Jackets scored double-digit points, two scored eight points, two had four points and four finished with three points. The W was led by Sheppard and McCaine, who both produced 23 points each. Reid had 14 points, Austin tacked on 11 points and Trent Walker had a double-double with 10 points and 14 rebounds.
After a weekend spent in Texas, the Owls are back in action at 6 p.m. Friday in Jackson at Millsaps College.
Through four games to begin the year, The W’s women’s basketball team hasn’t been able to jump into the win column yet with an 0-4 record.
On Saturday at Pohl Gym, the Owls were bombarded from deep in a 91-60 loss to Pensacola Christian. After taking a 19-15 lead to the second quarter the Eagles outscored The W 25-11 before the break, 24-18 in the third quarter and 27-12 in the final frame behind 13 makes from beyond the arc. Mia Bowen led the team with 14 points and seven rebounds, and Trinity Hamilton had 10 points and three rebounds. Fantasia Wilson contributed nine points, five rebounds and five assists and four steals, and Conley Langford had eight points, eight rebounds and three steals.
On Thursday, the Owls hosted Centenary College, and despite a late fourth-quarter rally, The W fell just short in a 70-67 loss.
Trailing 54-42 heading into the fourth quarter, MUW outscored the Ladies 25-16 the rest of the way but it wasn’t quite enough. Bowen swished home a shot to the tie game at 65-65 with 1:16 left to play, but the Ladies responded immediately with a 3-pointer by Layla Powell to take the lead again for good. Bowen finished off an Owls miss with a tip-in basket but her team was forced to foul the Ladies in the waning minutes, who sunk two shots to close the game.
Bowen led the team with 24 points, nine rebounds, two assists and two steals, and Langford tossed in 23 points, eight boards, four assists and seven steals. Centenary was led by four players with double-digit points, two with 11 points and two with 10.
The Owls played at Lyon College yesterday and will take on Huntingdon College at the Millsaps Tournament in Jackson at 3 p.m. on Nov. 29 for its next game.
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