WEBSTER GROVES - Webster University had a dominating second and third periods here Saturday afternoon against MacMurray College as the Gorloks outscored the Highlanders 49-19 combined in the those two periods en route to earning an 82-46 victory in St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference action at Grant Gymnasium.

With the victory, Webster improves to 4-4 overall and 2-1 in the SLIAC, while MacMurray falls to 1-8 overall and 0-3 in the league. The win also was Webster's second consecutive in league play as the Gorloks picked up an impressive 80-60 win on Monday at Greenville to snap a season long three game losing skid.

In Saturday's win over MacMurray, the Gorloks shot 49 percent from the field and 33 percent from the 3-point line and forced 28 turnovers that led to 32 points in picking up its 14th straight win over the Highlanders. The Gorloks have now held MacMurray under 50 points in the last three meetings between the two teams. 

While its offense tied season high with 82 points, the Gorloks defense was even stronger in Saturday's contest as Webster held MacMurray to 10 or fewer points in the first three periods and also limited the Highlanders to 24 percent shooting from the field and 23 percent shooting from the 3-point line. Webster, though, committed 21 turnovers that led to 16 points for the Highlanders. 

Junior guard Naomi Johnson (St. Louis, Mo./Greenville University) continued her hot offensive play on Saturday as she scored a game high 20 points and added six rebounds and two steals and went 4-for-9 from the 3-point line. Over her last two games, Johnson has averaged 22.0 points per game and is shooting 64 percent from the field and 53 percent from the 3-point line. 

In addition to Johnson, who scored a career high 24 points in the win on Monday at Greenville, senior guard Jaysea Morgan (Fisk, Mo./Twin Rivers) added a season high 15 points and also had seven rebounds, four assists and two steals. The 15 points pushed Morgan's career total to 777 points and she is now 223 points shy of becoming the seventh Gorlok to score 1,000 career points. The third double-digit scorer on Saturday was sophomore forward Taylor Zarr (St. Louis, Mo./Oakville), who tied a career high with 11 points off the bench. 

The Gorloks once again played Saturday's game without leading scorer and rebounder, sophomore forward Addison Beussink (Jackson, Mo./Saxony Lutheran). Beussink, who sat out Saturday's game once again due to a concussion suffered against Spalding nine days ago, is averaging 16.7 points and 7.8 rebounds per game on the season.

Along with the three double-digit scorers, four other Gorloks scored between seven and eight points in the win as sophomore guard Hannah Cottrell (Steelville, Mo.Steelville) had eight points, four rebounds, seven assists and five steals, while freshman guard Tiffany Sakamoto (St. Louis, Mo./St. Joseph Academy) added eight points off the bench. Freshman forward Julie Baudendistel (St. Louis, Mo./Lindbergh) had seven points and four boards and sophomore guard Lauryn Freeman (Fort Worth, Texas/Timber Creek) tallied seven points and had a career high seven boards and also had four assists and three steals in the win. 

For the game, nine of the 11 Gorloks that played in the game scored at least two points, while all 11 players that saw action collected at least one rebound as Webster finished the game with a 45-36 edge on the glass, including a 26-14 edge in the first half. 

Webster opened Saturday's game by scoring the first 14 points and held MacMurray scoreless for a little over six minutes into the game before Maddie Ashcraft drilled a 3-pointer at the 3:46 mark in the opening period. After Cottrell gave the Gorloks a 16-3 lead following two free throws with 1:10 left in the period, the Highlanders would hit two treys over the final 59 seconds of the opening period to cut Webster's lead to 16-9 after one period. 

In the second period, the Gorloks would shoot 61 percent from the field and connect on three of its six 3-pointers and outscore the Highlanders, 27-9 in the period to take a 43-18 lead at the half. Webster finished the first half shooting 52 percent from the field and 30 percent from the 3-point line and held MacMurray to 20 percent shooting from the floor and 25 percent shooting from the 3-point line. 

The margin at the half could've been larger, but Webster committed 11 turnovers in the first half that led to eight MacMurray points. The Highlanders had 14 first half turnovers. 

Much like the second period, the third period was all Webster as the Gorloks outscored the Highlanders, 22-10 in the period and held MacMurray to 14 percent shooting from the field and 13 percent shooting from the 3-point line. In the period, MacMurray had nine turnovers that led to 10 Webster points. In the period, the Gorloks scored nine of the period's first 13 points to push its lead to 52-22 with 5:35 left in the period. After a free throw by Ariel Henry pulled MacMurray within 29 at 52-23, the Gorloks would close the period on a 13-5 run capped by a free throw from junior guard Kiara Rhines (Glendale, Ariz./Ironwood) with 1:06 left in the period. Rhines' free throw gave the Gorloks a 65-28 lead. 

Webster opened the fourth period on a 10-2 run to push its lead to 44 points as 75-40 following a basket by Zarr with 6:39 left in the game. The 45 point lead was the largest of the game for the Gorloks and its largest lead in a game this season. Following Zarr's basket, the Highlanders would score 16 of the game's final 23 points to cut the final margin to 36 points. MacMurray outscored Webster, 18-17 in the fourth period. In the period, Webster would turn the ball over seven times that led to eight points for MacMurray. 

Savanah Moore paced MacMurray with 18 points and five rebounds, while Julia Ellis added nine points of the bench. The Gorloks held MacMurray's leading scorer, Alexis Doyle, scoreless in the game as she was 0-for-3 from the field, including an 0-for-2 effort from the 3-point line in 24 minutes of action. Doyle entered the game averaging a team-best 12.5 points per game. 

Webster finished the game with 24 assists on 30 made baskets and collected 17 steals and shot 70 percent (14-for-20) from the free throw line. 

The Highlanders were 10-for-14 (71 percent) from the free throw line and had 11 steals for the game. 

Webster will now take 14 days off for first semester final exams and the Christmas holiday before returning to action on Saturday, Dec. 28 as the Gorloks begin a two-game trip to California with a 3 p.m. CT contest at Whittier College in Whittier, Calif. Following the Whittier game, the Gorloks will conclude the trip to the West Coast with a 3 p.m. game on Monday, Dec. 30 at Pomona-Pitzer.