WBB Game Preview: WBU vs Cottey (Feb. 22 | 1:00 PM)

WALNUT RIDGE, Ark. (2/19/25) – The Williams Baptist University women's basketball team will round out the regular season against Cottey on Saturday, Feb. 22 at 1:00 p.m. inside the Southerland-Mabee Center.

GAME INFORMATION

(RV) WILLIAMS BAPTIST EAGLES (24-3, 20-1 AMC) vs COTTEY COMETS (19-8, 15-6 AMC)
Game Info: Saturday, Feb. 22 - 1:00 p.m. CST - Southerland-Mabee Center (Walnut Ridge, Ark.)
Live stats: https://wbueagles.com/sports/wbkb/2024-25/boxscores/20250222_ra2m.xml
Live video: https://wbueagles.com/watch 

MATCHUP FACTS

Last Meeting: Jan. 18, 2025 (WBU 79-66)
Current Streak: WBU W5

WBU QUICK FACTS

2024-25 Record: 24-3 (20-1 AMC)
Current Streak: W19
2023-24 Record: 24-7 (15-3 AMC)
2023-24 Postseason: Fell to William Carey 73-56 in the NAIA Tournament Opening Round
Head Coach: John Mayberry (8th season)
HC Record: 147-81 (108-55 AMC)
HC Record at WBU: Same
Assistant Coach: Kala Tyus (6th season)

ABOUT COTTEY

2024-25 Record: 19-8 (15-6 AMC)
Current Streak: W4
2023-24 Record: 17-12 (9-9 AMC)
2023-24 Postseason: None
Head Coach: Evan Belk (1st season)
Assistant Coach: Marina Paes

COTTEY NOTABLES

• Cottey is coming off a 57-46 win over Crowley's Ridge in its last matchup on Thursday

• Autumn Wallace led the way with a double-double on 17 points and 14 rebounds

• Sarah Hunt followed up with a double-double on 16 points and 12 rebounds

• Claudia Hadlock added on 13 with three three-pointers

• Cottey fell behind 14-6 after the first quarter as CRC took a 29-21 lead into halftime

• Cottey fired back in the third, holding Crowley's Ridge to just four points to take a 41-33 lead at the end of the period

• Hunt scored 11 of the Comets final 16 points in the fourth quarter to clinch the team's 19th win

• The Comets tied the Cottey single-season program win total with the victory

• Cottey won the rebound battle 48-40 and scored 17 points off turnovers

• The Comets average 65.9 points per game (6th AMC) 

• Cottey boasts the second best defense in the AMC, conceding an average of only 56.3 points per game

• Sarah Hunt leads the way in scoring average for the Comets with an average of 16.0 points per game (9th AMC)

• Autumn Wallace leads the squad on the glass with an average of 7.0 rebounds per game (8th AMC)

• The Comets rank second in the AMC in three-point attempts per game with an average of 25.5 shots per game from downtown

• Cottey also ranks second in free-throw attempts per game at 17.9, but ranks eighth in FT% at a 69.4 percent clip

• The Comets have the least amount of turnovers per game in the AMC with an average of 11.0 giveaways per game

• Cottey was picked to finish fourth in the AMC Preseason Coaches Poll

LAST TIME OUT

• The Lady Eagles clinched the outright AMC regular season title with a 104-52 win over Hannibal-LaGrange on Thursday

• Carmen Taylor set a new career high with 37 points on 14-for-22 shooting from the field

• Her sister Charmen Taylor followed up with 11 on 5-for-9 shooting

• Taylyn Davis scored 10 points off the bench

• As a team, the Lady Eagles went 41-for-79 (51.9 percent) from the field and knocked down 11-of-22 three-point attempts (50.0 percent)

• Williams out-rebounded the Trojans 42-27

• The Lady Eagles forced 42 Trojan turnovers that turned into 49 points

• WBU outscored HLGU 33-6 in the first quarter and coasted to its 19th straight win 

WBU NOTABLES

• The Lady Eagles will play host to the American Midwest Conference Women's Basketball Tournament Presented by TandemHR on Feb. 28-Mar. 3.  

• WBU will face No. 8 seed Central Baptist in the first round of the tournament on Feb. 28

• Kaylee Isaacs (Clark) is now the all-time leading scorer for Williams Baptist University women's basketball with 1,986 total points.  She surpassed Angela Flippo's all-time career record on Thursday, Feb. 6 against Crowley's Ridge.

• Isaacs is 14 points away from becoming the first player in school history to reach the 2,000 point mark.

• Isaacs passed Jessica Shepard to become the all-time leader in career three-pointers at WBU with her 193rd make from deep against Central Baptist on Feb. 13

• Carmen Taylor became the seventh member of the 1,000 point club at WBU with 11 points against Mission on Feb. 11.  She is the first Eagle to join the club after only two seasons.

• Kaylee Isaacs was named the American Midwest Conference Defensive Player of the Week on Monday after collecting 36 rebounds, 10 steals, and three blocks across three games

• Carmen Taylor leads the American Midwest Conference in scoring average at 19.9 PPG (14th Nationally), with a season high of 37 against Hannibal-LaGrange (Feb. 21)

• Kaylee Isaacs ranks third in the conference in scoring average with 17.1 points per game (56th Nationally) and a season-high of 35 against Mission (Feb. 11)

• Isaacs also leads the Lady Eagles on the glass with an average of 7.0 rebounds per game (9th AMC), highlighted by a 15 rebound performance against Harris-Stowe (Jan. 23)

• Sara Crowe ranks second in the AMC in FG% with a 55.3 percent mark

• Charmen Taylor follows right behind in third at a 55.2 percent clip

• Williams is third in the nation in scoring with an average of 90.0 points per game

• WBU stands at first place in the AMC standings with a conference record of 20-1

• The Lady Eagles 20 conference wins is a new school record for the most conference wins in a season

• Williams went undefeated in the month of January

• WBU received top 25 votes in the NAIA Women's Basketball Coaches Poll No. 6 released on Feb. 12

• 2023-24 and 2024-25 are the first consecutive 20+ win seasons for WBU women's basketball since the 1988-89 and 1989-90 seasons

• Williams is coming off its first NAIA Tournament appearance in program history in 2023-24

• The Eagles were picked to finish third in the AMC Preseason Coaches Poll

AMERICAN MIDWEST CONFERENCE STANDINGS
As of 2/21/25

1 Williams Baptist (20-1)
2 Columbia (18-3)
3 Mission (17-4)
4 Stephens (16-5)
5 Cottey (15-6)
6 William Woods (9-12)
7 Missouri Baptist (9-12)
8 Central Baptist (8-13)
9 UHSP (6-15)
10 Harris-Stowe (5-16)
11 Crowley's Ridge (3-18)
12 Hannibal-LaGrange (0-21)

The top eight teams in the AMC standings will participate in the AMC Tournament at the end of the season, hosted by the number one seed.

SCHEDULE NOTES

• Up next, WBU will kick off the AMC Tournament with a first round matchup against the eighth-seeded Central Baptist Mustangs on Feb. 28 at 5:15 p.m. from inside the Southerland-Mabee Center.

• Williams' 2024-25 schedule features 14 home games inside the Southerland-Mabee Center on the campus of Williams Baptist University