WEBSTER GROVES - Webster University Women's Basketball continued its hot play in the New Year here Saturday afternoon as the Gorloks put five players in double figures en route to earning an impressive 86-66 win over Westminster (Mo.) College in the St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Game of the Week at Grant Gymnasium.

With Saturday's victory, Webster extends its winning streak to three straight games and improves its overall record to 7-6 and remains tied for the SLIAC lead with Spalding as both teams are 5-1 in league play. Entering play on Saturday, Webster, Westminster, Spalding and Eureka were all tied for first place in the SLIAC, but after play on Saturday only Spalding and Webster remain tied as Eureka fell 73-62 at Fontbonne and Spalding picked up a 98-30 win at home over Principia.

In Saturday's game, the Gorloks scored 20-plus points in three of the four periods and shot 58 percent from the field and topped 80 points for the third consecutive game and the sixth time in six league games. 

Sophomore forward Addison Beussink (Jackson, Mo./Saxony Lutheran) paced the Gorloks with her third double-double of the season as she had 17 points and 10 rebounds, while junior guard Naomi Johnson (St. Louis, Mo./Greenville University) also had 17 points as she was 7-for-7 from the field in the win. In addition to Beussink and Johnson, freshman forward Julie Baudendistel (St. Louis, Mo./Lindbergh) added 14 points, while senior guard Jaysea Morgan (Fisk, Mo./Twin Rivers) totaled 12 points and six assists and sophomore guard Hannah Cottrell (Steelville, Mo./Steelville) had 11 points and seven assists. 

With her 12 points, Morgan pushed her career scoring total to 835 points and is now 165 points shy of becoming the seventh player in school history to record 1,000 career points. 

Webster has now put five players in double figures for the second consecutive game as the Gorloks also had five players reach double figures in its 89-45 win on Tuesday at Principia. 

Along with shooting 58 percent from the field, the Gorloks shot 42 percent from the 3-point line, dished out 22 assists and held a 33-29 edge on the glass.

The Gorloks jumped out to a 7-0 lead in the opening two-plus minutes of the game and led 15-6 when Westminster used a 4-2 run to pull within 17-10. WU, though, would close the period on a 7-5 run to hold a 24-15 lead after the opening 10 minutes. Beussink scored seven of her team high 17 points in the period. 

Westminster (5-8 overall, 4-2 SLIAC) would open the second period on a 6-4 run to pull within 28-21 following a basket by Abbie Reece with 7:53 left in the period. Following WC's run, the Gorloks scored seven consecutive points to take a 35-21 following a trey by Johnson with 4:05 left in the period. The Blue Jays, who had its two game win streak snapped on Saturday, scored four straight points to drop WU's lead to 35-26, but a free throw by Johnson and a basket right before the buzzer from sophomore guard Lauryn Freeman (Fort Worth, Texas/Timber Creek) gave the Gorloks a 38-26 lead at the half. 

The two teams combined for 51 points in the third period as the Gorloks shot 80 percent (12-for-15) from the field in the period and scored 27 points, while Westminster shot 60 from the floor and tallied 24 points in the period. After three periods, the Gorloks held 65-50 lead. 

Webster, who outscored the 'Jays, 21-16 in the fourth period, would push its lead to as much as 22 points following two free throws by Beussink with 3:58 left in the game. Beussink's two free throws capped a 6-0 run for the Gorloks and gave Webster a 77-55 lead. The Blue Jays would score 11 of the final 20 points to set the final margin at 20 points. 

Saturday's game marked the season debut for Webster junior forward Darieana Hunter (Norman, Okla./Norman) as she had missed the first 12 games of the season recovering from offseason knee surgery. In her first game of the year, Hunter scored seven points and had three rebounds in nine minutes of action. 

Kallee Dowler led the way offensively for Westminster with a game high 21 points, while Reece added 13 points and five steals and Abby Nichols chipped in with 10 points and five rebounds off the bench. 

The Blue Jay finished the game shooting 44 percent from the field, but was held to just 24 percent (4-for-17) shooting from the 3-point line. Westminster entered the game averaging nearly nine made treys per game and were shooting 35 percent from long distance. 

Webster committed 21 turnovers that led to 18 points for Westminster, while the Blue Jays committed 24 turnovers and were whistled for 23 fouls. Webster had 21 fouls as the two teams combined to shoot 38 free throws. 

The Gorloks will look to extend its win streak to four straight wins this coming Wednesday, Jan. 15 as Webster hosts Blackburn College  (4-8 overall, 2-4 SLIAC) for a 5:30 p.m. SLIAC match-up in Grant Gymnasium.