Lady Blues pound William Jewell

Box Score

Dec. 19, 2000

After playing the underdog role at Kansas last week, the Washburn Lady Blues wanted to shut the door early on NAIA foe William Jewell.

The Lady Blues made their point early and kept the pressure on in their 85-53 victory at Lee Arena Saturday night.

With a combination of inside dominance and solid outside shooting, the Lady Blues bolted to a 32-10 lead in the first half.

"We wanted to go out and take care of business," said Washburn coach Ron McHenry. "Defensively we really took them out of the game early and got good looks inside. We really wanted to come out with a good start tonight."

Washburn's Morgan Wililams, whose father Larry Williams is an assistant coach for William Jewell, got it going from the outside with three 3-pointers in the first half. Williams finished 4 of 6 from behind the arc, after going the first five games of the season without a trey.

"I knew they were going to play zone and I felt confident that we could get some outside shots," said Williams. "Once I made the first shot I got it going and kept shooting. It was definitely different going against my dad. He's been my coach all of my life."

Washburn finished the game by going 33 of 68 from the field, including a 9-of-15 mark from beyond the arc. The Cardinals were 18 of 53 from the floor and surrendered 21 turnovers.

"This was our best shooting night of the season," said Washburn guard Thorlan Buchanan. "We wanted to come out, play hard and get the offense going."

Buchanan led Washburn with 14 points and a career-high eight assists. Kristy Chapman finished with 13, while Williams and Jodi Rausch added 12 and 10 respectively.

The Lady Blues will be in action on Dec. 30 against Missouri-St. Louis with a 5:30 tip. The Lady Blues will open MIAA play on Jan.3 on the road against Missouri Southern in Joplin, Mo.