Hooten Puts Up 30 as Lady Eagles Fall to Evangel

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. (11/25/24) – Junior Taylor Hooten scored a career-high 30 points as the Williams Baptist University women's basketball team fell to Evangel on Monday night by the final score of 86-85.

Hooten's 30 points led all scorers on 10-for-15 from the field and 4-for-6 from three-point range.  Hooten also led the team in rebounds with eight on the night. 

Carmen Taylor finished with her first double-double of the season with 17 points and 10 assists on 8-for-16 from the field.  Kaylee Isaacs finished with 15 points , and Charmen Taylor finished with 10 on the night.

As a team, WBU shot 43.8 percent on the night on 32-for-73 with 6-for-20 from beyond the arc.  The Eagles cashed in 30 points off of 22 Valor turnovers, but lost the rebound battle 37-24.

After taking the lead on a Hooten jumper, the Lady Eagles extended the advantage with a 17-4 run for a 25-11 lead.  WBU shot 50.0 percent from the floor to take a 29-17 lead at the end of the first ten minutes.

Evangel responded in the second quarter, cutting the Eagle lead to two with 2:05 left.  WBU managed to stay on top at halftime 42-39, but the Valor out-scored Williams 22-13 in the second stanza.

WBU came out of the locker room on a 13-5 run to put some distance between the teams and shot 57.1 percent in the third quarter, but Evangel matched the WBU shooting pace on 57.9 percent shooting.  The Eagles led 73-63 going into the final 10 minutes of the ballgame.

Williams struggled from the field in the fourth quarter, going 5-for-16 from the floor while Evangel shot 58.8 percent.  Despite going cold, the Eagles kept the lead throughout the quarter, and looked to close the game out after a bucket from Hooten.

Evangel went down to score a bucket to cut the lead to one, and a charge was called on Charmen Taylor to give Evangel the ball with 21 seconds remaining.  The Valor scored a layup to take its first lead since the first quarter with one second remaining.  The Eagles were unable to hit the final shot as Evangel took the 86-85 win.

WBU falls to 4-2 on the season with the loss.  The Eagles return to action on Wednesday, Dec. 4 on the road against AMC rival Stephens.  Tip-off is set for 5:30 p.m. from Silverthorne Arena in Columbia, Mo.