Morgan Breaks Gorlok Steal Record

Webster University Women's Basketball outscored Westminster (Mo.) College 44-26 in the second and third periods en route to posting an impressive 73-52 win over the Blue Jays in St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference action at Historic Gym on the Westminster campus. 

With the win, Webster, who improved to 15-7 overall and remains tied for first with Fontbonne in the SLIAC standings with a 13-2 record, secured one of four spots in the SLIAC Tournament, which is scheduled for Feb. 28-29. The Gorloks have now qualified for the SLIAC Tournament for the third consecutive season and a league-best 20th all-time appearance. 

In Thursday's game, which was rescheduled from Wednesday due to the weather, the Gorloks shot 50 percent (14-for-28) from the field and 54 percent (7-for-13) from the 3-point line in the middle two periods to push a 16-8 first period lead to 60-34 heading into the fourth period. 

For the game, Webster made a season-high 10 3-pointers and shot 56 percent from the 3-point line, including junior guard Naomi Johnson (St. Louis, Mo./Greenville University) going 5-for-7 from long distance and finishing with a game-high 17 points. The five treys were a season-high by a Gorlok player. 

Along with Johnson's 17 points, senior guard Jaysea Morgan (Fisk, Mo./Twin Rivers) added 13 points, five rebounds, four assists, and two steals. With her two steals, Morgan became the school's all-time leader in steals as she passed Laura Stuhlman on the career steals list as Morgan has now recorded 260 career steals. Stuhlman had 258 steals from 1998-02. In addition, the 13 points pushed Morgan within 30 points of 1,000 career points as she has now tallied 970 career points. 

Sophomore forward Addison Beussink (Jackson, Mo./Saxony Lutheran) added eight points and nine rebounds, while sophomore forward Taylor Zarr (St. Louis, Mo./Oakville) tallied six points and a tied a career-high with six rebounds and also blocked a career-high six shots. 

The Gorloks jumped out to a 5-0 lead just 90 seconds into the contest and led 12-2 with 4:21 left in the opening period. The Blue Jays would score six of the final 10 points of the period to cut Webster's lead to 16-8 after the first 10 minutes.

Westminster (10-12 overall, 9-6 SLIAC) opened the second period on a 10-8 run to cut Webster's lead to 24-18, but the Gorloks responded with a 14-0 run to push its lead to 38-18 with 1:37 left in the period. The run began with a lay-up from Beussink and was capped by two free throws from Zarr. Kallee Dowler would hit two free throws with 43 seconds left in the period to drop WU's lead to 38-20 at the half. In the period, the Gorloks went 8-for-16 from the field and 4-for-6 from downtown in scoring 22 points and holding Westminster to 12 points.

Much like the second period, the Gorloks scored 22 points in the third period and shot 50 percent from the field, 43 percent from long distance and was 7-for-8 (88 percent) from the free-throw line in taking a 60-34 lead. Johnson scored 11 of her 17 points in the period as she was 3-for-4 from long distance in the period.

The Gorloks opened the final period on 5-2 run to push its lead to as much as 29 points following two free throws by freshman forward Julie Baudendistel (St. Louis, Mo./Lindbergh) with 6:17 left in the game. Baudendistel's free throws gave Webster a 65-36 lead. Westminster would close the period on a 16-8 run to cut Webster's final margin to 21 points. 

Dowler and Reese Arnold each scored 10 points for Westminster, while Mikalyn Callahan added nine points and 10 rebounds in the loss. 

Webster finished the game shooting 43 percent from the field and 56 percent from the 3-point line and was 17-for-23 (74 percent) from the free-throw line, while Westminster shot 32 percent from the floor and 31 percent from long distance. 

The 52 points scored by Westminster was the fewest for the 'Jays in the series they scored 50 points in Webster's 83-50 win at home on Jan. 28, 2017. 

The Gorloks held a 38-30 edge on the boards and blocked a season-high seven shots. 

Both teams combined for 33 turnovers as Webster had 17 turnovers and Westminster committed 16 turnovers. The 'Jays scored 21 of their 52 points off of Webster's turnovers. 

Webster, who had 17 assists and collected eight steals in the contest, will look to extend its win streak to three straight games this coming Saturday, Feb. 15 as they travel to Carlinville, Ill., for a 1 p.m. SLIAC contest against Blackburn College (5-16 overall, 3-12 SLIAC). The Gorloks picked up an 84-46 win over the Beavers at Grant Gymnasium on Jan. 15.