Lady Eagles Take Hard-Fought Victory Over Cottey

NEVADA, Mo. (1/18/25) – Powered by a combined 53 points from Kaylee Isaacs and Carmen Taylor, the Williams Baptist University women's basketball team took down Cottey 79-66 in American Midwest Conference action for the team's ninth consecutive win on Saturday afternoon.

Isaacs led the charge for Williams with 29 points on 8-for-20 shooting and a perfect 10-for-10 from the charity stripe.  Taylor followed with 24 points on 9-for-26.  Taylor tied with her twin sister Charmen Taylor for the team-lead in rebounds with eight, and Carmen also led the squad in assists with seven.

WBU went 27-for-70 (38.6 percent) against the tough defense of Cottey, but responded by holding the Comets to 22-for-59 (37.3 percent).  The Lady Eagles won the rebound battle 37-33 and cashed in for 26 points on 17 Comet turnovers.  The matchup featured six ties and three lead changes.

The two teams traded buckets through the first six minutes of the contest before Cottey stormed out to a 14-7 lead with 2:34 to go in the first quarter.  WBU responded with a Carmen Taylor layup and Isaacs triple to cut the lead to two and force a Cottey timeout.  The Lady Eagles ended the stanza on a 7-0 run capped off by a Charmen Taylor free throw before the buzzer to go up 19-16. 

The Comets fought back to take a 30-29 lead with four to go in the second, but Williams responded once again, this time with a 12-1 run capped off by a Monica Horne free throw to take a 10-point advantage.  The Lady Eagles went into halftime up 41-35.

Cottey continued to fight through the third quarter and managed to tie the game at 45, but Williams kept pace and pushed the lead back out to 59-52 to end the third.

WBU held on in the fourth quarter, going 8-for-17 from the field powered by nine points from Carmen Taylor to close out the win 79-66 win.

The Lady Eagles move to 14-3 overall on the season and 10-1 in conference play.  Its ninth straight win is one behind its longest streak of the 2023-24 season at 10.

WBU returns to the floor on Thursday, Jan. 23 on the road against Harris-Stowe.  Tip-off is set for 5:30 p.m. from St. Louis, Mo.