WASHINGTON, D.C. - Lafayette cut a 14-point halftime deficit to five on three occasions in the final minutes, but the comeback fell short on Saturday as American held on for a 76-69 win in the Patriot League regular-season finale.

Fifth-seeded Lafayette will now play fourth-seeded Holy Cross on Wednesday in the Patriot League Tournament Quarterfinal in Worcester, Mass. The teams split the season series with each team winning on the other's home court. The Crusaders were Lafayette's first-round opponent in the 2011 tournament when Lafayette advanced to the Patriot League championship game.

Ryan Willen had his third double-double of the season and seventh of his career, finishing with 16 points and 13 rebounds. The Leopards outrebounded a Patriot League opponent for the third time this season, 45-31, the team's largest rebound margin of the season. Seth Hinrichs pulled down a career-high eight rebounds to go with Willen's career-best performance.

Lafayette (12-17, 7-7) and American (19-10, 10-4) traded 7-0 runs to open the game with AU taking its first and Lafayette responding. The game was tied 9-9 at the 12:33 mark. The Eagles ripped off a 20-2 run. Tony Wroblicky had five points in the span and Mike Bersch added two three-pointers and Charles Hinkel contributed another as AU led 29-11 with 4:48 left in the opening stanza.

Hinrichs stopped the AU spurt with a drive and dunk. American led by as many as 20 twice in the first half and held a 36-22 advantage at intermission. Lafayette shot 30 percent from the floor in the first half including 1-for-11 from long range.

The Leopards came out of the locker room with renewed intensity, slicing the American lead to 10 (53-43) with 10:39 left on Jim Mower's three-pointer from the top of the arc off a Hinrichs' feed. Mower finished with 10 points as one of three Lafayette players in double figures.

Two minutes later, Bersch put back a missed Hinkle jumper to push the AU lead back to 14. Nick Petkovich followed with a three, and three free throws from Willen moved the deficit to eight (57-49) with 5:49 left.

Troy Brewer (13 points) nailed two crucial three-pointers on consecutive possessions and Daniel Munoz added a layup as American led 65-51 with 4:41 left. Rob Delaney, who finished with 14 points, drained a three-pointer with 1:37 left to put the score at 68-62.

Willen's layup with 1:19 left in the game put the Eagles' advantage at five and again with 37 seconds remaining on two more Willen foul shots. The Leopards pressured the inbounds pass but Blake Jolivette sneaked away down the court to put in a layup that ran the final to 76-69.

Lafayette shot 37 percent for the game and 7-for-28 from three-point land. The Eagles fared better from long distance, converting 10-of-17 (59%) while shooting 47 percent from the floor.

Click here for the game's full box score.

Editor's Note: Alan Flannigan returned to action for the Leopards after missing several games due to concussion symptoms. The freshman saw limited minutes, but took a step in the right direction by getting back on the court.

FULTON - In a game that turned out to have absolutely zero playoff implications, the William Woods University women's basketball team rolled to a 78-65 win over Missouri Baptist and gave head coach Dan Chapla his 100th career win for WWU.

The Owls shot a season-high .609 from the floor and saw three scorers finish with 20 points in the romp, with Ashlee Taylor (Dexter, Mo.) leading the way with 23 points. Megan Aubuchon (Old Monroe, Mo.) also picked up her third double-double of the season with 20 points and 12 rebounds.

The Owls started the game up 2-0, as Aubuchon made both free throws for a technical foul assessed during the pre-game, following up with a bucket off the opening tap to give WWU a quick 4-0 cushion. The Owls continued to push, with Aubuchon and Sharron Andrews (Oakland/Hayward, Calif.) combining to give William Woods a 13-4 lead by the 16:44 mark.

Missouri Baptist responded with a six-point spurt to close to 13-10, but the Owls extended the lead back to nine, with a Destani Stensrud (Exeter, Mo.) bucket off an assist from Blake French (St. Charles, Mo.) putting WWU back on top 26-17 with just under 10 to go.

The Spartans were able to battle back, even taking a 32-33 lead with 3:14 left in the half. With the shot clock winding down, Mandy Kirby was able to draw contact from French as she was hurling up a desperation three, but the MBU junior was able to make all three free throws for the Spartans.

The foul seemed to fire up WWU, as Andrews answered with a wide-open 3-pointer on the next possession, sparking the Owls to a 11-2 run to close out the half.

The Owls started the second half exactly as they started the first, with an Aubuchon bucket in the first 20 seconds. WWU stretched a 43-35 halftime margin to a 57-44 cushion with 16:07 to go in the game.

MBU was able to take advantage of a short cold snap for William Woods, closing to a 66-61 deficit with just over six minutes to play, but a 3-pointer from Katie Scherder (Bowling Green, Mo.) off an Andrews assist took the wind out of the sails for the Spartans.

William Woods pulled away to a 78-63 lead before Chapla made a sweeping substitution with 30 seconds left, allowing his five seniors to take a final regular-season curtain call as the baton was passed to the underclassmen. MBU hit a consolation bucket with 20 seconds to go for the final margin.

In addition to outshooting MBU by nearly 20 percent - .609 to .417 - William Woods dominated the rebounding battle, grabbing 36 boards to just 26 for the Spartans. The Owls also handed out 14 assists on the night, led by six for Andrews, who also joined Aubuchon and Taylor with 20 points. Kirby led the Spartans with 17 points on the night.

With the win, Chapla becomes the fastest head coach to earn 100 wins at William Woods, doing so in his 128th game at the helm and in just his fourth season. He also becomes the first coach since Roger Ternes to record four consecutive 20-win seasons.

The Owls host the first round of the AMC Postseason Tournament on Wednesday night, taking Missouri Baptist at 7 p.m.

By Andrew Cato, ShowMe Times Sports Editor

SIKESTON - The old adage "defense wins championships" was proven by the Dexter Lady Bearcats in the Class 4, District 1 Championship game on Friday night. LBB's high-pressure defense dismantled the Notre Dame Lady Bulldogs on the way to a 62-38 victory in a rematch of last year's title game.

LBB head coach Chad Allen was quick to compliment the Bulldogs; the two teams split the regular season series 1-1.

"Notre Dame always puts a good team on the floor; Coach Peters does a good job with them. I thought Notre Dame played extremely well, especially after losing Alison Bradshaw last year," Allen said. "They were focused this year and definitely had a great season."

The most recent contest between Dexter and Notre Dame saw the Lady Bulldogs squeak out a 52-51 victory on their home court. Seniors Summer Burger and Brooke Bohnert combined for 40 points in that game, and Allen noted it as a key in his team's preparation for the title game.

"I thought our girls worked extremely hard these last few weeks preparing for Notre Dame," he said. "We focused on Bohnert and Burger, trying to stop them; they are two great players. The biggest difference, we shot 29 percent from the field last time we played. I thought we gave a much better defensive effort tonight."

"For the most part, I thought we did a really good job offensively tonight," Allen continued. "I thought our girls were really focused this game; they came out and had a great defensive effort tonight."

Paige Patterson had another breakout game for the Lady 'Cats; the sophomore has flown under the radar of All-State junior Brittany Harris for most of the regular season, but has really stepped up her game in the last several weeks. Patterson paced the Lady 'Cats with 18 points, and added nine boards and four blocks in the win.

"Paige had a great game last night, and she turned around and had a really good game tonight, Allen said. "She's stepped up her play, and is getting pretty hard to stop inside there."

The Lady Bulldogs held a one point lead at the 5:15 mark of the first quarter, but the Lady Bearcats were able to put together a 13-6 run to close out the frame with a 17-11 lead.

Notre Dame pulled within two points midway through the second quarter, but it was the closest they would get for the rest of the night. A steal from Erika Cobb set up an 8-0 run to give LBB a 27-17 lead heading into halftime.



A trey by Miranda Fowler was the only spark Notre Dame had in the second half; the Lady Bearcats' press gave the Bulldogs fits early in the third, and forced a 10 second violation at the 3:30 mark. An offensive rebound and putback from Harris brought the score to 42-28 heading into the fourth.

Cobb knocked down a trey in the early fourth quarter to give the 'Cats a 14 point lead. A 10 footer from Harris gave LBB a 20 point lead at 1:45. LBB would run out the clock to take home a 62-38 victory.

"We talked about our defense at half. We wanted to come out with a lot of intensity in the second half and try to wear them down. I thought they did a really good job against [Notre Dame's] press-breaker offense," Allen commented. "We've worked that really hard for the last few weeks, and we took that away in the second half. I know we got at least one 10 second violation, and I think a couple five-second violations in the half-court. They played a great game defensively tonight."

The Lady Bearcats improve to 23-4 on the season with the win.

In District 2, the Park Hills Central Rebels were able to hand North County a 59-54 loss to claim their district title; the Lady 'Cats will meet the Rebels in sectional action on Wednesday (Feb. 29) at Mineral Area College; tipoff is set for 6:00 p.m.

FULTON - The William Woods University Owls guaranteed themselves a host's position in the AMC Tournament with a 66-44 win over Stephens College on Thursday night. Sharron Andrews (Oakland/Hayward, Calif.) led the Owls with 13 points on the night, while Destani Stensrud (Exeter, Mo.) added 10 in the victory.

Dexter, Mo., native Ashlee Taylor didn't contribute much to the final score, but she had a great defensive effort in 15 minutes on the court. The junior finished the game with 3 points, 1 rebound, 1 block, and 1 steal.

Both teams struggled to open the game, with neither team able to find the range for the first several minutes. WWU opened the scoring with a single free throw, eventually opening a 13-5 lead with 10:24 to go in the half.

The Owls would take a 27-17 lead into the locker room at halftime, having mustered a .346 shooting pace in the first while holding Stephens to just .250 from the floor.

The game opened up in the second half, as William Woods found its shooting touch - going .560 from the floor for the period - and pulled away, leading 36-21 with 16:07 left in the game.

Stephens was able to close slightly, but never within fewer than three possessions down the stretch.

The Owls were outrebounded on the night by a 28-33 margin, but largely due to limiting Stephens to just 42 shots from the floor. Olivia Storjohann (Eldridge, Iowa) and Jordan Floyd (Highland Ranch, Colo.) finished just shy of the double-digit threshold on the night, with each racking nine points. Miranda Loesch (Lohman, Mo.) led the WWU rebounding charge with seven. Sam Stirmlinger led Stephens with 10 points on the night, with Megan Sheffield pulling down a team-high eight rebounds.

William Woods will close out its regular season slate on Saturday at 2 p.m. against Missouri Baptist. The game, part of Courtwarming week, will also feature a recognition of the Owls' five seniors prior to tipoff.

By Andrew Cato, ShowMe Times Sports Editor

SIKESTON - The Lady Bearcats will return to the Class 4, District 1 championship game after cruising to a 76-32 win over the Ste. Genevieve Hunters on Thursday night.

LBB's full-court press caused problems for the Hunters all night, as the Lady 'Cats forced over 30 turnovers in the game.

"Coming into this game, we definitely wanted to try to put a lot of pressure on Ste. Gen., and I thought the girls did a great job of that tonight," LBB head coach Chad Allen said We wanted to try to make it a fast paced game, and we scored a lot off turnovers. I thought the girls really executed and did a good job tonight."

A layup from Hannah Noe put the Lady 'Cats on the board within five seconds of the opening tip, and they never looked back. A pair of offensive rebound and putbacks from Brittany Harris and a trey from Alison Jarrell pushed the Lady 'Cats to a 19-7 lead after the first quarter.

Erika Cobb knocked down a three to give the 'Cats a 24-10 lead at the 5:20 mark; three point plays from Cobb and Noe increased the lead to 33-13 at the 2:15 mark. An eight point effort from Paige Patterson helped LBB to a 41-15 lead at halftime.

LBB pulled back into their half-court defense in the second half, but still held the Hunters to singe-digit scoring totals in both the third and fourth quarters. Freshmen Katie Reiker and Breana Bowers both saw playing time in the second half in relief of the starters.

LBB dominated the glass all night, and outrebounded Ste. Gen. by a 32-12 tally. Harris and Patterson both did a great job inside on Jasmine Kuehn, holding hte 6'1" post to just six points.

"Ste. Gen. definitely has some size, but we did a good job of shutting Jasmine Kuehn down, and limiting her inside," Allen said. "Most of their points came from the perimeter; we did a great job defending inside tonight."

In Thursday's nightcap, the Sikeston Lady Bulldogs faced off against second-seed Notre Dame. Sikeston kept the game much closer than their regular-season contest, but ultimately fell 63-56.

The Lady 'Cats will square off against Notre Dame Friday night in the Class 4, District 1 title - a rematch of last year's title game, and the third time this season the teams have met. The squads split the regular season series, with LBB taking a 65-57 victory back in November, and the Bulldogs earning a 52-51 win on their home court earlier in February.

"We've been working on quite a bit of stuff against Notre Dame, trying to prepare for them," Allen said. "We've worked on things that we faced against them last time for the last couple weeks; the girls are definitely prepared. Now it's just a matter of coming out, executing defensively, and running your offense."

Tipoff for the Girls Class 4, District 1 Championship game is scheduled for 6:00 p.m., with the Boys Championship between Sikeston and Notre Dame tipping off at 7:30.