The Webster University women's basketball team overwhelmed Blackburn College, 75-43, on January 11 in Carlinville, IL.  Webster's suffocating half-court defense shut the Beavers down completely as Webster took a 47-7 halftime lead and coasted in the second half as the Gorlok reserves took over.

Webster raced to a 25-5 first period lead.  The Gorloks' half court press provided fits for the Beavers, as Blackburn rarely made it passed the half court line.  After taking the 40-lead into the locker room, the Gorloks took their foot off the pedal in the second half, with all 16 players seeing action and 14 getting into the scoring column.  Webster lead 60-21 after the third period, before closing out the contest.

Natalie Busscher (SO, Mundelein, IL/Mundelein) led Webster with 15 points, going 10-10 from the free throw line, and had a team-high six rebounds and four steals.  Aley Lucas (JR, Sullivan, MO/Sullivan) had 11 points on 5-8 shooting and Olivia Ciapetto (SR, Rochester, IL/Rochester) had nine points. 

The Gorloks showed why they are still maintaining their national ranking in the NCAA III for assists per game (#1-20.2), steals per game (#2-18.5), and turnovers forced per game (#2-33.54).  The Beavers had 39 turnovers in the game and the Gorloks had 15 steals.  Webster shot 27-55 (49%) on the night from the field and was 15-18 (83%) from the charity stripe.

Though Blackburn leads the all-time series between the two teams, 31-26, Webster has now won 11 straight over the Beavers dating back to 2012.

Webster is 4-2 in the SLIAC and 11-3 overall.  The game vs. Blackburn was the first of four straight road games for Webster.  The Gorloks travel to Jacksonville, IL, on January 14 to take on MacMurray College.