WEBSTER GROVES - The Webster University women's basketball team begins the final week of the 2017-18 regular season Wednesday night as they travel to Carlinville, Ill., for a St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference match-up against Blackburn College.
Wednesday's contest tips-off at 6 p.m. as the Gorloks (17-5 overvall, 11-3 SLIAC) face Blackburn (2-21 overall, 0-14 SLIAC) at 6 p.m. at Dawes Gymnasium. Wednesday's doubleheader action will conclude at 8 p.m. as the Gorlok men face the Blackburn men.
Webster comes into Wednesday's game having won six consecutive games and 10 of its last 11 overall with its only setback being an 81-79 loss at home on Jan. 17 against Greenville. The Gorloks enter play this weekend sitting in a tie for second place in the SLIAC standings with Eureka as each team is sporting an 11-3 mark in the league play. Both Eureka and Webster are two games behind Greenville, who is 13-1 in the league, with two regular season games remaining. The Gorloks have already clinched a spot in the SLIAC Tournament and can claim a share of the regular seaosn title with two wins this week and two losses by Greenville. WU closes the regular season with a 3 p.m. contest on Saturday at Greenville. Greenville plays at Spalding on Wednesday before hosting the Gorloks.
Wednesday's game will be the second meeting this season between the two schools as the Gorloks earned a 96-69 win at home over the Beavers on Jan. 13. In addition, it will also mark the 59th all-time meeting against the two schools as Blackburn leads the series, 31-27, but the Beavers have dropped 13 straight games to the Gorloks since picking up a 59-45 win at Webster on Feb. 9, 2011. Current Gorlok head coach
Jordan Olufson is 14-6 all-time against Blackburn.
The Gorloks enter the game sitting third in the SLIAC in scoring as they are averaging 77.4 points per game and are also third in field goal percentage (42.1 percent), third in 3-point field goal percentage (35.4 percent) and they lead the league in free throw shooting (75.3 percent). On defense, Webster is one of the top defensive teams in the league as they lead the league in scoring defense (60.8 points per game), steals (16.8) and turnover margin (+12.4). On the year, Webster has collected 370 steals, which is fifth most in the school's single-season chart and have had seven players collect 30 or more steals on the year, including senior guard
Kelsey Miller (Elizabeth, Ind./Maryville University) leading the way with 50 steals.
Senior forward
Aley Lucas (Sullivan, Mo./Sullivan) and her twin sister, senior forward
Taylor Lucas (Sullivan, Mo./Sullivan) are No. 1 and 2 in scoring for the Gorloks as they are averaging 12.8 and 10.4 points per game respectively. In addition, they both also are averaging 5.2 and 5.0 rebounds per game respectively.
Aley Lucas comes into play Wednesday having scored in double figures in five straight games and nine time in her last 11 games and she also has a streak of 25 consecutive made free throws since the third period against Fontbonne.
Blackburn comes into Wednesday's game averaging 57.2 points per game and is shooting 33.8 percent from the field and 21.5 percent from the 3-point line. In addition, the Beavers are third in the league in rebounding as they average 44.0 boards per game. Leading the way for Blackburn is freshman guard Kate Smith as she is averaging 9.8 points per game, while Maria Cline averages 8.5 points and a team-leading 5.5 rebounds per game.
