FULTON - The William Woods University women's basketball team led wire to wire as they rolled to a 24-point win over Harris-Stowe State University on Thursday night. Sharron Andrews (Oakland/Hayward, Calif.) led all scorers with 18 points and added five rebounds in the 68-44 Owls win.

After struggling from three-point range on Monday night, William Woods found its accuracy against Harris-Stowe, shooting 6-of-11 from long range in the first half en route to a 38-25 halftime advantage. The Owls hit on both of their attempts from distance in the second half as well, pulling away to the 24-point win.

The Owls posted a solid .397 shooting clip from the floor and a .615 mark from distance, adding 10-of-13 from the line. WWU pestered Harris-Stowe into a .240 shooting pace during the second half, with the Hornets finishing the contest at a .326 pace and a .313 mark from beyond the arc. The Owls owned a 42-36 rebounding edge as well, and picked up 11 steals to just five for the Hornets.

WWU moves to 14-6 on the year and 4-1 in AMC play. With the win, the Owls sit atop the conference standings in a three-way tie with Harris-Stowe and Columbia.

The Owls currently hold the tiebreaker seeds over both teams. WWU continues its conference slate on Saturday at Stephens College. Tipoff for the game is set for 2 p.m.

ShowMe Scoreboard, 1.26.2012

Games played Monday, Jan 25, 2012

High School Boys

Stoddard County Tournament

• Dexter 71, Bloomfield 59
• Bernie 62, Advance 54 

High School Girls

• Poplar Bluff 42, Kennett 39
• Kelly 46, Campbell 22
• Perryville 46, Woodland 31
• Cape Central 49, DeSoto 30
• Delta 41, Chaffee 35
• Scott City 44, Saxony Lutheran 37 

Collegiate Men

• SEMO 65, Austin Peay 60
• Florida 64, Ole Miss 60
• Tennessee State 72. Tennessee-Martin 59
• Denver 66, Arkansas State 52
• Southern Utah 57, UMKC 47

Collegiate Women

• Illinois 71, Michigan State 63
• Kentucky 66, Auburn 48
• Penn State 77, Michigan 56
• Memphis 71, Marshall 58
• Arkansas 51, Mississippi State 35
• S Illinois 74, Murray State 57
• Tennessee 86, Alabama 56

 

By Andrew Cato, ShowMe Times Sports Editor

. The Dexter Bearcats put their No. 1 seed and undefeated SCAA record on the line Thursday night against the No. 4 Bloomfield Wildcats. Dexter utilized excellent perimiter shooting and a much-improved effort from the charity stripe to get a 71-59 victory and the right to defend their SCAA Title.

"We played pretty good offensively; we didn't have a lot of turnovers, and we shot the ball pretty well," head coach Rob Nichols said after the game. "We need to play better defensively. I didn't think we played really well defensively tonight, and that's been something we've done the last few games. We just haven't guarded well lately."

After a 4-0 Bloomfield run to start the game, Chase Young hit a three to wake up the Bearcat offense, and DHS took a 15-12 advantage into the second quarter.

Tyler Miller and Young combined for five threes in the second quarter, coupled with a seven point effort from Jake Lee, to extend their lead to 10 at halftime.

"[Bloomfield] went to that zone on us, and we've played well against the zone this year," Nichols said. "Every time we've seen it, we've shot the ball well. Tyler hit three big threes in the second quarter, and that really got us some momentum heading into the second half."

Both teams played better defense in the third quarter, but struggled offensively. Neither Dexter or Bloomfield could really put togeter any consistent offense, but the Bearcats were able to keep their lead intact. DHS led 50-39 heading into the fourth.

The Wildcats put on a three point parade of their own in the fourth, with Caleb Baker hitting one and Logan Cowart knocking down two. Young hit his fourth three of the night for the Bearcats, and great free throw shooting from none other than Lee (7-9 in the fourth) sealed the Bearcat victory.

Adam Vandiver led the Wildcats with 16 points; Brett Ruch, Zach Pounds, and Cowart had 13, 12, and 11 respecive points.

The Bearcats were paced by Lee, who had 23 points and 13 rebounds. Young and Miller added 17 and 15 points.

"Jake just plays hard," Nichols said of the senior's second double-double in the tournament. "He gets everything out of his body he can get, I've been real proud of him this year."

Lee had struggled from the charity strip so far this season, but has shown great improvement as of late.

"He can make free throws," Nichols added he shot well last year, and he's getting better this year. I think collectively we've been better as a team lately."

The Wildcats will face Advance in the third place matchup; tipoff is set for 5:30 p.m. on Friday. The Bearcats will return to the Championship Game, where the look to defend their SCAA Title against the Bernie Mules.

"We expect a tough, hard-fought game; you always have to play well to beat those guys," Nichols said. "Botsch always has a great game plan. We'll have to play well. It's probably the game that most people wanted to see."

The Mules and Bearcats met exactly 14 days ago at the Bearcat Event Center on Dexter's homecoming; the 'Cats emerged with a 68-61 win.

Tipoff is set for 8:30 p.m.

By Andrew Cato, ShowMe Times Sports Editor

Super Bowl Sunday is nothing short of a National Holiday in many households across the nation. Family and friends gather around the TV with their favorite tailgate foods and drinks to take in the spectacle of 'the big game', whether that be the commercials, the halftime show, or the game itself.

In Super Bowl XLVI, the New England Patriots and New York Giants are facing off in a rematch of Super Bowl XLII (in my opinion, the best of my lifetime; the pass from Manning to Tyree that Tyree caught on his helmet still amazes me).

If you've watched ESPN, you've heard more than you ever wanted to know about Eli Manning and Tom Brady, comparing the two defenses, etc., but Southeast Missouri football fans have something else to watch for in the game: Dan Connolly.

Connolly is a 2005 graduate of Southeast Missouri State University. The 29 year old is New England's starting center, and was a four-time All-Ohio Valley Conference offensive lineman for the Redhawks.

Connolly's path to the NFL was a tumultuous one; after not being picked up in the '05 NFL Draft, Connolly signed by the Jacksonville Jaguars, but was released by the team in 2007. He was signed to the Patriots active roster in February '08, but was released on October 20 and re-signed to the practice squad two days later.

Connolly was promoted to the Patriots active roster for the 2009 season and stared four games when veteran Stephen Neal went down with an injury.

When Logan Mankins missed the first seven games of the 2010 season due to contract issues, Connoly filled in at left guard. He was put on the reserve list during Week 9, but came back at right guard after a season-ending injury to Neal.

Connolly's most publicised moment came in a Dec. 19, 2010 contest against the Packers - the 6'4", 314-pounder ran bank a kickoff for 71 yards to set up a Patriots touchdown, and set an NFL Record for the longest kick return by a lineman. The feat earned him AFC Special Teams Player of the Week honors - he was the second lineman to ever earn the award.

Keep an eye out for big No. 63 when the Patriots take the field during the Super Bowl.

Below is Connolly's record-setting kick return during the 2010 season.

ST. LOUIS – The Three Rivers Lady Raiders waited too long to shift their game into high gear Wednesday night.

The Lady Raiders trailed by as many as 13 points with three and a half minutes left before rallying to cut the gap to one in the final moments before falling 76-74 to the St. Louis Archers in a Midwest Community Collegiate Athletic Conference contest.

“We cannot wait till the last five minutes to start playing,” Three Rivers coach Jeff Walk said. “We need to make more free throws – 10-for-21 will not cut it. Hopefully we will realize that we must come to play every night.”

Three Rivers (8-11) trailed 68-55 after Kirstie Owen’s 3-pointer with 3:51 to go, but came alive shortly after that as Carolyn Overton scored six straight points to cap a 9-0 spurt and make it a 68-64 game with 2:10 remaining.

Four straight points by Cierra Gaines pushed the Archers’ lead back to 72-64, but a pair of baskets by Brooke Godsey sandwiched around an Abbie Warren trey made it a one-point game with 24 seconds left on the clock.

Shakaunna “Nene” Futrell made three of four free throws to push the St. Louis lead to 75-71 with 15.1 seconds left, but a Candace Miller 3 made it 75-74 with nine seconds to go.

The Lady Raiders still had a chance after Gaines missed one of two free throws with 2.6 seconds left, but could not get a game-tying shot.

The Lady Archers led 29-26 at the half, but slowly built its lead to open the second half, going up 55-44 on Futrell’s basket with 10:01 left in the contest and led by at least seven until Three Rivers made its late run.

Warren and Whitney Mills paced the Lady Raiders with 12 points apiece, while Tazonda Gibbs added 11 and Overton finished with 10.

Gaines led St. Louis with 21 points.

Three Rivers is back in action Saturday when it hosts Moberly in a Region XVI contest. Tipoff is set for 5 p.m.

For more information on everything Raider Athletics, make sure to visit RaidersAthetics.com!