No. 9 Lyon escapes William Woods

From Lyon Sports
Tyler Scott, Assistant Director of Sports Media

BATESVILLE, Ark. – The ninth-ranked Lyon College women’s basketball team escaped William Woods University Thursday night with a strong fourth quarter effort. With the Owls leading 56-55 after three quarters, the Scots outscored the Owls 23-8 in the final period to come out on top with a 78-64 win.

Madison Riley and Kelsey Smith each posted career highs with 17 and 12 points, respectively. Jamie Jackson also added 12 points and eight rebounds to aid in the team’s victory.

Lyon improves to 3-1 overall and 1-0 in the AMC on the season, while William Woods falls to 2-3 overall and 0-1 in the conference.

BY THE NUMBERS

31 – Other notable scoring performances came from Liz Henderson, Sarah Elkins, Ali Tucker and Elliot Taylor. Henderson finished with nine points, while Elkins and Tucker had eight apiece. Taylor contributed by adding six points for 31 total between the four players.

70.0 – After posting a 21.4 percentage from beyond the arc in the first half, the Scots heated up in the second by posting a 70.0 percentage from the three-point line on 7-of-10 shooting. Riley and Henderson each hit three three-pointers in the game to lead the team.

4 – The Scots outrebounded the Owls by four at 37-33. Jackson and Ratliff each led the team with eight rebounds apiece, while Henderson added five.

44 – Lyon used 44 points from their bench to help in closing out the game on a big run late. William Woods had just 15 points from their bench.

7 – Each team had seven steals in the game. Jackson led Lyon with three, while Elkins, Taylor, Riley and Samantha French had one apiece.

GAME FLOW

Playing with home court advantage, Lyon was given a test from conference foe William Woods throughout the night. With the game tied at 34 at the 2:45 mark of the second quarter, the Owls went on a 6-1 run to take a 41-35 lead with less than a minute left. WWU would take a 41-37 lead at halftime.

Both teams would come out strong in the second half, with Lyon trailing just behind the Owls in the third quarter. Lyon cut the deficit to one point on two different occasions in the period at 53-52 and 56-55, which came with 28 seconds remaining in the period. Then in the fourth quarter after a basket from the Owls, Riley tied the game at 58 after hitting a three-pointer with 7:52 left in the game.

The Scots would grab their first lead since the 2:45 mark in the second quarter after Riley made another three-pointer to give the Scots a 63-62 lead with 4:36 remaining. The stampede of points then began for Lyon as they closed the game on a 15-2 run to take a decisive victory.

WHAT’S AHEAD FOR THE SCOTS
Lyon continues AMC play as they host No. 20 Columbia College on Saturday at 12 p.m.