Morgan Joins Gorloks 1,000 Point Club

Webster University Women's Basketball showed some championship moxie here Wednesday evening as the Gorloks rallied from a 21 point halftime deficit to post a 91-87 come-from-behind victory over Eureka College in St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference action on Pink Out Night at Grant Gymnasium. 

The win helped the Gorloks clinch at least a share of the regular season SLIAC title for the just the second time in school history and the first time since 2002 and improve its overall record to 17-7 and move to 15-2 in the league heading into Saturday's regular-season finale at Iowa Wesleyan. A win on Saturday over Iowa Wesleyan will give the Gorloks the regular-season title outright. 

Along with clinching a share of the regular-season title with the win, the victory also helped the Gorloks secure the right to host the 2020 SLIAC Tournament next weekend on its home court for the first time in program history. 

In Wednesday's win, five Gorloks scored in double figures as junior guard Naomi Johnson (St. Louis, Mo./Greenville) and sophomore forward Addison Beussink (Jackson, Mo./Saxony Lutheran) each tallied 18 points, while freshman forward Julie Baudendistel (St. Louis, Mo./Lindbergh) added 17 points. Sophomore guard Lauryn Freeman (Fort Worth, Texas/Timber Creek) and senior guard Jaysea Morgan (Fisk, Mo./Twin Rivers) each had 16 points in the win. 

With her 16 points, Morgan made history as she became the seventh Gorlok in school history to join the 1,000 Point Club as she entered the game needing just six points for her 1,000th career point and that sixth point of the game came on her second 3-pointer of the game at the 7:35 mark of the second period. In addition to the 16 points, Morgan added six rebounds, five assists, and two steals as she pushed her career assist total to 270 and her career steals total to 266. 

Wednesday's win, which was the fourth consecutive for the Gorloks since suffering a 67-58 loss at Fontbonne on Feb. 6, looked almost improbable at the half as Eureka held a 53-32 lead after the opening 20 minutes of Webster's final regular-season home game of the 2019-20 season. The 21 point halftime deficit was the largest of the season for the Gorloks. 

The victory also seemed unlikely with a little over three minutes left in the game as Eureka (13-11 overall, 9-8 SLIAC) used two free throws from Ja'Keesha Hawkins to take an 85-76 lead with 3:17 remaining in the game.

Following Hawkins' two free throws, the Gorloks used back-to-back baskets from Beussink with pull within 85-80 with 2:24 left in the game. After Ashley Harfst hit two free throws with 2:01 left to push its lead back out to seven at 87-80, Johnson would hit two free throws and then baskets by Morgan and Freeman moved the Gorloks within a point with 1:13 left in the game.

Trailing by a point with less than 30 seconds left in the game, the Gorloks used a steal from Morgan that led to a basket by Beussink with 23 seconds to give the Gorloks an 88-87 lead. On Eureka's ensuing possession, Beussink secured Webster's win by recording her career-high ninth block on a lay-up attempt by Olivia Falls with nine seconds left in the game. On the play, Falls would get called for an intentional foul on Beussink and the Gorloks would hit three of four free throws with seven seconds left to seal the come-from-behind victory. 

The nine blocks by Beussink are the fourth most in a game in school history and the most blocks in a game by a Gorlok player since Cassie Endicott blocked 10 shots at Blackburn on Jan. 29, 2014. In addition, Webster finished with 10 blocks as a team, which is tied for fifth-most in a game in the program's history. 

After getting outscored 53-32 in the first half, the Gorloks outscored Eureka, 59-34, in the second half to rally for the victory as Webster scored 28 points in the third period and scored 31 points in the fourth period. 

Webster, who swept the season series from Eureka for the first time since the 2010-11 season, began its comeback in the third period as the Gorloks opened the period on a 16-4 run to cut Eureka's halftime lead to 57-48 following a lay-up by Beussink with 5:36 left in the period. The run was keyed by four 3-pointers, including three from Johnson and another one from Morgan. 

The Red Devils, though, used five straight points from Jadyn Mitchell to push her team's lead back out to 14 at 62-48, before Webster responded with 7-0 run to pull within 62-55 after a lay-up from Beussink with 2:32 left in the period. Two free throws by Falls, a basket by Hawkins and two free throws from Mitchell gave Eureka a 68-55 lead, but two free throws from junior forward Darieana Hunter (Norman, Okla./Norman) and a trey from Morgan with 16 seconds left in the period helped the Gorloks pull within 68-60 heading into the final period.

Eureka opened the fourth period on a 12-9 run to push out to an 80-64 lead with 6:38 left in the game. The Gorloks, though, used a 12-2 run capped by a basket from Johnson to pull within 82-76 with 4:08 remaining. The Red Devils would then use a free throw from Whitney Bozarth and two free throws from Hawkins to push back out to a nine-point lead 3:17 left. 

Hawkins led the way offensively in Wednesday's game with 23 points, including scoring 15 of those points in the first half, for Eureka. In addition to Hawkins, Falls added 17 points and 13 rebounds, while Bozarth, Harfst, and Mitchell each had 15 points for the Red Devils. 

The Gorloks finished the game shooting 49 percent from the field and hit a season-high 11 treys as they shot 36 percent from the 3-point line in the win. Webster also shot 67 percent (12-for-18) from the free-throw line on the night.

Webster's defense held Eureka to 42 percent from the field and 43 percent from the 3-point line and were 29-for-24 (85 percent) from the free-throw line, including going 16-for-17 at the line in the first half. 

Webster held a 41-35 edge on the glass for the game as Beussink recorded 11 rebounds for her sixth double-double this season and 16th of her career. 

Both teams finished with 18 turnovers and the Gorloks had 24 assists on 34 made baskets, including five from Morgan and four each from Johnson and sophomore guard Amaya Baker (McDonough, Ga./Union Grove). 

The Gorloks will close out the 2019-20 regular season with a 1 p.m. game on Saturday, Feb. 22 in Mount Pleasant, Iowa, against Iowa Wesleyan. Webster earned a 108-74 win at home over the Tigers on Jan. 22. 

STORY COURTESY OF WEBSTER UNIVERSITY SPORTS INFORMATION