Lady Eagles Fall to William Carey in Opening Round of NAIA Tournament

CAMPBELLSVILLE, KY. (3/15/24) - The Williams Baptist women's basketball team saw its historic season come to an end on Friday afternoon with a 71-64 loss to No. 8 Williams Carey in the opening round of the NAIA Tournament at the Powell Athletic Center on the campus of Campbellsville University campus. 

The Lady Eagles finished the season with a 24-7 record and had a season of many firsts that included a trip to the national tournament and an appearance in the American Midwest Conference championship game for the first time in program history. 

"We accomplished a lot of goals we set out to do at the beginning of the season," WBU head coach John Mayberry said. "I couldn't be more proud of this team and everything we were able to do this year. Today didn't go our way, but we have nothing to hang our heads about and we can take all of these experiences and make ourselves better as we try to build upon our success for next year."

Friday's game was an even-matched contest that featured 19 lead changes and eight ties. The score was tied at 53-53 at the end of the third quarter and WBU took the lead to start the fourth on a free throw by Nijah Moore. After William Carey took the lead back, Carmen Taylor put WBU ahead again on a layup at 56-55 but the Crusaders would answer again with a jump shot to go up 57-56 with 8:33 to go and Williams would not lead again.

WCU pushed the advantage to 59-56 with just under eight minutes left and the score remained there for nearly three minutes until the Crusaders finally broke the scoring drought for both sides. 

Carmen Taylor drained a 3-pointer that got William within 63-61 with 2:45 remaining and then Moore tied the game at 64-64 with a free throw with 1:53 to go, but the Crusaders closed the game on a 7-0 run as the Lady Eagles failed to convert on chances at the offensive end in the final minutes. 

Carmen Taylor led four Williams players in double-figures with 20 points. Kaylee Clark added 16 points and four steals, while Charmen Taylor had 11 points and Moore finished with 10. 

Both teams were evenly matched in nearly every statistical category throughout the game. WBU shot 38.5 percent (25-of-65) from the field to the Crusaders 38.2 percent (29-of-76) and both teams made five, 3-pointers. Williams went 9-of-13 from the free throw line, while William Carey was 8-of-12 and the Lady Eagles had 20 turnovers while forcing 21. 

Neither team led by more than seven points at any point during the night and the largest run either side had was an 8-0 run by William Carey in the third quarter that helped wipeout a 40-35 halftime advantage for the Lady Eagles. Clark went on a personal 6-0 run in the second quarter to build a six-point lead for WBU. 

WBU is slated to return all but one graduating senior from this year's squad heading into the 2024-25 season.