FULTON, Mo. -  The W women's basketball use a gritty effort from its entire roster to score a 66-60 St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SLIAC) road win at Westminster College. The win by the Owls (6-16, 5-9 SLIAC) over the Bluejays (8-14, 8-6 SLIAC) at Historic Gym was a make-up of the postponed January 24 game.
 
Theses same two teams will face off again this coming Thursday (Feb. 19/5:30 p.m.) in Columbus.
 
After some early back-and-forth, MUW went ahead with 3:07 left in he first quarter and kept it throughout the half. The Owl outscored Westminster by a 16-7 margin i9n the second quarter, taking a 29-18 lead into the halftime locker room.
 
A three-point basket by MUW's Calysia Phillips with 2:33 left in the third period gave her team its largest lead of the night, 42-30. The W still led, 50-40, entering the fourth quarter.
 
The Bluejays scored the first two baskets of the final stanza, and slowly chipped away at the MUW cushion. With 1:4 left in the contest, a pair of WC free throws gave the hosts their first lead since the opening salvo, 57-56.
 
With the score knotted at 59-59, and just over a minute left, Rhianna Dinkins buried a three-pointer from the left corner to put her team ahead for good. MUW connected on 4 of 6 free throws down th stretch, outscoring Westminster, 7-1, to close out the game.
 
With its leading scorer Mia Bowen in foul trouble most of the game – limited to six points and six rebounds – the rest of The W lineup came through. Phillips led all scorers with 20 points, converting 10-of-11 free throws. Phillips also grabbed four rebounds and had three blocks to her credit.
 
Conley Langford added 15 points, including 3-of-5 from long range and 4-of-5 free throws. Langford did a bit of everything with four boards, three assists and six steals.
 
Fantasia Wilson was the team's third double-digit scorer with 11 points and had a team-leading eight rebounds. Dinkins and Jakayla Smith each booked seven points an pulled down six rebounds.