WEBSTER GROVES - Webster University survived a 33-9 rally over an eight minute span in the third and fourth quarters here Wednesday evening en route to holding on for a 94-84 victory over Westminster (Mo.) College in St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference action at Grant Gymnasium on the Webster campus. 

With the victory, Webster improved to 8-1 overall and 7-1 in the SLIAC and extended its homecourt win streak to 16 consecutive games, which is the fifth longest active streak in NCAA Division III women's basketball, while Westminster fell to 9-3 overall and 7-2 in the league.

Wednesday's win also helped secure at least a share of the regular season SLIAC title for the second consecutive season. The Gorloks can win the league title outright with a road win Saturday over Eureka, but regardless of the outcome of Saturday's game, Webster is expected will earn the No. 1 seed in next week's SLIAC Tournament by virtue of its two wins this season over Westminster.

The Gorloks led Wednesday's game 72-47 with 2:40 remaining in the third quarter, but the Blue Jays, who had its five game win streak snapped with the loss, would rally by scoring the final eight points of the third quarter and then opening the fourth quarter by outscoring the Gorloks 21-9 to pull within 81-76 with 4:21 left in the game.  

That would be as close as the Blue Jays would get, though, as the Gorloks would close the game on a 13-8 run, including junior forward Addison Beussink (Jackson, Mo./Saxony Lutheran) scoring nine of those 13 points to win its eighth consecutive game since opening the 2020-21 season with a 71-66 loss at Greenville.

Westminster outscored the Gorloks 49-38 in the second half. 

For the second straight game, Beussink, who was named this week's SLIAC Player of the Week, was dominant offensively as after setting a new single game school record with 35 points last Saturday against Fontbonne, the 6-foot-1 forward scored 33 points and added 12 rebounds for her fifth double-double of the season and 21st of her career against Westminster. The 33 points was the previous single game school record for scoring that Beussink eclipsed against Fontbonne. Over her last three games, Beussink, who scored 20 of her 33 points in the first half, is averaging 31.0 points and 12.3 rebounds per game and is shooting 60 percent from the field and 85 percent at the free throw line. 

In addition to Beussink's third consecutive double-double, sophomore forward Julie Baudendistel (St. Louis, Mo./Lindbergh) added 25 points, along with four assists, four blocks and three steals. Baudendistel has now scored 20 or more points in three consecutive games as she is averaging 23.3 points per game over her last three games. 

The third double-digit scorer for the Gorloks was senior guard Naomi Johnson (St. Louis, Mo./Greenville University) added 19 points and had five assists and three steals.

Webster got off to a fast start in Wednesday's game as after Reese Arnold scored the game's first basket just 78 seconds into the game, the Gorloks would score 25 of the next 31 points to push out to a 25-8 lead following a trey by Johnson with 3:23 left in the first quarter. The run was aided by combined 16 points from Beussink and Baudendistel. 

After Arnold connected on three straight free throws to help the Blue Jays close the opening quarter on a 10-2 run to drop Webster's lead to 27-18 with 57 seconds left in the quarter. The Gorloks would close the quarter by scoring six of the final nine points to hold a 33-21 lead after the opening 10 minutes.

The Gorloks would get off to a strong start in the second quarter as they opened the quarter on an 18-5 run to push its lead to 51-26 with 4:47 left in the period. The run began with a lay-up from junior guard Hannah Cottrell (Steelville, Mo./Steelville) and was capped by a lay-up from freshman forward Emily Ederer (Doniphan, Mo./Doniphan).

Westminster would then respond by closing the quarter on a 10-5 run to cut Webster's lead to 56-35 at the half. 

In the third quarter, the Gorloks would open the quarter with a trey from Baudendistel to take a 59-35 lead, the Blue Jays would then score six straight points to pull within 59-41 just a little over two minutes into the quarter. That run by the 'Jays seemed to ignite the Gorloks as they used a 13-6 run over the next five-plus minutes to take a 72-47 lead. The run began with a trey from Baudendistel and was capped by a lay-up from senior guard Kiara Rhines (Glendale, Ariz./Ironwood). 

Following Rhines' lay-up, Westminster's Corrie Reece scored a lay-up with 2:09 left in the quarter and that lay-up began the Blue Jays third quarter closing run that dropped Webster's lead to 72-55 heading to the fourth quarter.

Avylina Powel-Qualo and Arnold paced the Blue Jays with 21 point each, while Shelby Kurtz and Madison Schaffer each scored 12 points for the Blue Jays. 

Webster's defense held Kaylee Dowler, who is Westminster's No. 3 scorer on the season as she entered the game averaging 10.1 points per game, without a basket as she went 0-for-9 from the field. 

The Blue Jays finished the game with a 40-30 edge on the boards as Powel-Qualo (9) and Schaffer (7) combined to 17 rebounds. The 'Jays also held a 14-7 edge on the offensive glass that led to a 17-6 advantage in second chance points. 

Webster's defense forced the Blue Jays in to 22 turnovers that led to 24 points, while the Gorloks committed 16 turnovers that led to 16 points for Westminster. 

The Gorloks finished the night shooting 55 percent from the field, including shooting 63 percent from the field in the first half and 42 percent from the 3-point line. The Blue Jays shot 45 percent from the floor and 46 percent from the 3-point line.

Webster also blocked seven shots as Baudendistel's four were a career high and the Gorloks dished out 27 assists on 37 made baskets as in addition to Johnson's five assists, Cottrell added a game-high seven to push her career total to 217 assists. 

The Gorloks will look to end the regular season with a win as they travel to Eureka, Ill., for a 5:30 p.m. game on Saturday, April 3 at Eureka College. The Red Devils are sporting a 6-6 overall record and a 5-4 mark in the SLIAC.