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BOX SCORE)
With a little more than two minutes remaining in the game, it looked bleak for the Webster Gorloks as they youthful team trailed by four. That is when the smallest player on the court, turned the game around.
Freshman guard
Bobbiann Auer, listed at 5-2, drove the ball into the paint for a three-point play. The play trimmed the Gorlok deficit to one point and sparked the game-ending 13-2 run, allowing Webster to post the 77-70 non-conference victory at Grant Gymnasium.
The win was the Gorloks fourth straight, and they are winners in six of their last seven games as they head into winter break. Webster will not return to the hardwood until Saturday, January 3 as they travel to Blackburn to resume St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletics Conference (SLIAC) action.
Auer's play came on the heels of a 9-0 Prairie Fire spurt in which the visitors claimed its final lead of the game. The Gorloks aided the Knox run by missing four straight attempts at the line. However, Webster did close out the game by hitting four straight, keeping the Prairie Fire at bay.
It was a roller coaster ride for both teams as the game witnessed eight lead changes and four ties - all four coming in the second half.
Webster scored the first eight points of the game as their fullcourt pressure and appeared the catch Knox by surprise. The Prairie Fire turned the ball over on the first two possessions, leading to two lay-ups. However, Knox eventually settled down - broke the press and then solved the Webster zone with the ultimate zone buster. The Prairie Fire hit eight consecutive shots, including six from behind the arc to turn an eight-point deficit into a seven-point lead.
The shooting barrage led to Webster switching to a man defense, and the Prairie Fire didn't convert another three-pointer for the rest of the game. During that initial span, Knox was 9-of-12 from the land of three. It was 0-for-5 for the remainder of the game.
Sophomore
Katy Meyer and freshman
Megan Willett scored 14 points with six rebounds each to lead five players with at least 10 points. It was Willett's career scoring high. Freshman
Blaire Underwood added 12 points - six coming down the stretch - and junior
Julie McGirl added 11 points with four rebounds.
Freshman
Ayrica Lockett rounded out the quintet with 10 points and six boards.
NOTES
- The four-game streak is the longest since Webster won six consecutive during a season-ending run in which they won 11 of 12 at the end of the 2005-06 season. They finished the season 16-10, losing to Fontbonne in the semifinals of the SLIAC Tournament. They were also 10-1 at home that season.
- Webster is now 5-1 at Grant Gymnasium this season.
- Freshman Megan Willett became the seventh player in nine games to lead the team in scoring. She tied a career-high with 29 minutes, while setting a career scoring high of 14.
- Junior Julie McGirl fouled out for the second time this season, the first since the season opener against UW-Platteville.
- It was the fourth straight time and the fifth time in six games that sophomore Katy Meyer reached double figures. The 5-10 forward also set a new career-high with six steals.
- Webster had a span of four consecutive game of having a player with a double-double snapped.
- The Gorloks have now won four games, including three during it current run of four victories, in which they trailed at halfime.
- Freshman Bobbiann Auer scored a career-high five points.
- By winning the battle on the glass, 36-31, WU is now 4-1 when it outrebounds it opponent. Freshman Blaire Underwood had a career-high with five rebounds.
- It was the team's fourth win when they reach the 70-point plateau.
QUOTES
Head Coach Jordan Olufson
on the opening moments of the game
"We got content, satisfied, with our level of play. (After scoring the first eight points) our intensity and aggressiveness went away ... We were making wide open shots, but I don't think we had a lot of energy. You could tell we had tired legs and fatigued players."
on Bobbiann Auer's basket, and her play
"The three-point play was the turning point, not for the game, but for the momentum. We were going back and fourth in the game ... Bobbiann is a hard-nosed, do what the coach asks, type of player. She has the biggest heart, plays like a seven-footer every night."
on Megan Willett
"Megan is getting better every minute of every day. She comes to practice wanting to learn, wanting to get better. She plays so hard and leaves everything on the floor."
