WBB Game Preview: No. 1 WBU vs No. 8 Central Baptist (Feb. 28 | 5:15 PM)

WALNUT RIDGE, Ark. (2/27/25) – The Williams Baptist University women's basketball team will face No. 8 seed Central Baptist in the first round of the American Midwest Conference Women's Basketball Tournament Presented by TandemHR on Friday, Feb. 28 at 5:15 p.m. inside the Southerland-Mabee Center.

GAME INFORMATION

No. 1 (RV) WILLIAMS EAGLES (25-3, 21-1 AMC) vs No. 8 CENTRAL BAPTIST MUSTANGS (10-16, 8-14 AMC)
Game Info: Saturday, Feb. 28 - 5:15 p.m. CST - Southerland-Mabee Center (Walnut Ridge, Ark.) - AMC Tournament Quarterfinals
Live stats: https://wbueagles.com/sports/wbkb/2024-25/boxscores/20250228_nzbf.xml
Live video: https://wbueagles.com/watch
Tickets: https://amcsportsonline.com/tickets 

MATCHUP FACTS

Last Meeting: Feb. 13, 2025 (WBU 77-67)
Current Streak: WBU W8

WBU QUICK FACTS

2024-25 Record: 25-3 (21-1 AMC)
Current Streak: W20
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: 148-81 (109-55 AMC)
HC Record at WBU: Same
Assistant Coach: Kala Tyus (6th season)

ABOUT CENTRAL BAPTIST

2024-25 Record: 10-16 (8-14 AMC)
Current Streak: L2
2023-24 Record: 7-18 (6-12 AMC)
2023-24 Postseason: None
Head Coach: Kory Heffentrager (1st season)
Assistant Coach: Sierra Carrier

CBC NOTABLES

• Central Baptist ended the regular season on a 76-45 loss to Stephens on Saturday, Feb. 22 at home

• Aliya Grotjohn led the scoring charge on 17 points

• Raigan Head led the Mustangs on the glass with 14 rebounds against the Stars

• CBC trailed by 16 at the half and failed to complete the comeback

• The Mustangs went a perfect 10-for-10 from the charity stripe

• CBC won the rebound battle 41-37

• Stephens dominated the Mustangs in the paint with 48 points to 14 from the Mustangs

• The Mustangs score an average of 65.8 points per game (6th AMC) while conceding an average of 74.0 points per game (10th AMC)

• Raigan Head leads the scoring charge for the Mustangs with an average of 15.4 points per game (10th AMC)

• Head leads the league in rebounds per game with an average of 9.7 boards per night

• The Mustangs lead the league in three-point attempts per game with an average of 27.4 attempts per game

• CBC ranks third in the league in three-point makes per game this season at 7.9 triples per night

• Central Baptist also ranks third in rebounds per game with 39.0 boards per game

• CBC finished the regular season in eighth place in the AMC standings with an 8-14 league record

LAST TIME OUT

• The Lady Eagles were victorious on Senior Day with an 86-50 victory over Cottey

• Carmen Taylor led the scoring average with 22 points on 9-for-13 shooting from the field

• Charmen Taylor and Taylor Hooten scored each scored 12 points

• Sara Crowe put up 10 points off the bench

• Kaylee Isaacs scored 14 points to become the first player in program history to cross the 2,000 point milestone after a free-throw in the third quarter

• As a team, the Lady Eagles went 32-for-61 (52.5 percent) from the floor while holding Cottey to 30.2 percent

• Williams out-rebounded the Comets 46-36

• The Lady Eagles forced 18 turnovers that turned into 24 points

• WBU out-scored Cottey 37-16 at halftime to coast to a win to round out the regular season

WBU NOTABLES

• The Lady Eagles have tied the program record for wins in a season at 25, a win would set a new program record

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

• Kaylee Isaacs (Clark) is now the all-time leading scorer for Williams Baptist University women's basketball with 2,000 total points.  She surpassed Angela Flippo's all-time career record on Thursday, Feb. 6 against Crowley's Ridge.

• 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.

• Taylor is one field goals away from tying Kaylee Isaacs for the single-season FG record (215 set in 2023-24)

• Carmen Taylor was named the AMC Offensive Player of the Week on Monday after scoring 59 points across two wins against Hannibal-LaGrange and Cottey

• Carmen Taylor leads the American Midwest Conference in scoring average at 19.9 PPG (13th Nationally), with a season high of 37 against Hannibal-LaGrange (Feb. 21)

• Kaylee Isaacs ranks third in the conference in scoring average with 17.0 points per game (59th Nationally) and a season-high of 35 against Mission (Feb. 11)

• Isaacs also leads the Lady Eagles on the glass with an average of 7.1 rebounds per game (9th AMC), highlighted by a 15 rebound performance against Harris-Stowe (Jan. 23)

• Sara Crowe ranks leads the AMC in FG% with a 55.8 percent mark

• Charmen Taylor follows right behind in third at a 54.3 percent clip

• Williams is third in the nation in scoring with an average of 89.9 points per game

• WBU finished in first place in the AMC regular season standings with a conference record of 21-1

• The Lady Eagles 21 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 Final NAIA Women's Basketball Coaches Poll released on Feb. 26

• 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

EAGLES EARNED HONORS

WBU earned 10 different individual awards at the AMC Women's Basketball Awards Banquet on Thursday night.

• AMC Player of the Year: Carmen Taylor

• AMC Coach of the Year: John Mayberry

• AMC co-Sixth Woman of the Year: Sara Crowe

• AMC First Team All-Conference: Kaylee Isaacs, Carmen Taylor

• AMC Second Team All-Conference:  Charmen Taylor

• AMC All-Conference Honorable Mention: Monica Horne, Taylor Hooten

• AMC All-Defensive Team: Carmen Taylor, Charmen Taylor

• AMC Champions of Character Team: Monica Horne

AMC TOURNAMENT MATCHUPS
All games held inside the Southerland-Mabee Center on the campus of Williams Baptist University

Friday, Feb. 28

Game 1 - No. 2 COLUMBIA vs No. 7 MISSOURI BAPTIST - 12:00 p.m.
Game 2 - No. 3 MISSION vs No. 6 WILLIAM WOODS - 2:15 p.m.
Game 3 - No. 1 WILLIAMS BAPTIST vs No. 8 CENTRAL BAPTIST - 5:15 p.m.
Game 4 - No. 4 STEPHENS vs No. 5 COTTEY - 7:30 p.m.

Saturday, Mar. 1

Game 5 - GAME 1 WINNER vs GAME 2 WINNER - 1:00 p.m.
Game 6 - GAME 3 WINNER vs GAME 4 WINNER - 3:30 p.m.

Monday, Mar. 3

Game 7 - GAME 5 WINNER vs GAME 6 WINNER - 5:30 p.m.

AMERICAN MIDWEST CONFERENCE FINAL STANDINGS

1 Williams Baptist (21-1)
2 Columbia (19-3)
3 Mission (18-4)
4 Stephens (17-5)
5 Cottey (15-7)
6 William Woods (9-13)
7 Missouri Baptist (9-13)
8 Central Baptist (8-14)
9 Harris-Stowe (6-16)
10 UHSP (6-16)
11 Crowley's Ridge (4-18)
12 Hannibal-LaGrange (0-22)

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

• Should WBU win this matchup, the Lady Eagles will face the winner of Stephens and Cottey on Saturday, Mar. 1 at 3:30 p.m. 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