Fulton, Mo.— The Spires led early, but William Woods took control by halftime and broke the game open in the third quarter for a 41-13 victory Wednesday evening in Fulton.

The crucial stretch came after USM grabbed a 7-0 lead in the first quarter. The Spires struck at the 8:13 mark when Kyendra Thomas helped direct the opening touchdown drive and the extra point made it 7-0. The Owls answered later in the quarter on a touchdown run by Williams, trimming the deficit to 7-6 after the conversion was missed. From there, the WWU turned the game in their favor with a 14-point second quarter, then put USM in a deeper hole with 21 more points in the third.

Williams was at the center of nearly everything for Woods. She finished 17-for-28 passing for 220 yards, one touchdown and one interception, while also rushing 16 times for 66 yards and three scores. Her second-quarter rushing touchdown extended the lead to 19-7 with 1:58 left before halftime, and William Woods kept pressing after the break.

The biggest swing came at 10:20 of the third quarter, when Chilek intercepted a pass and returned it 39 yards for a touchdown to make it 34-7. Later in the quarter, Dunaway broke loose for a 29-yard touchdown run at the 4:37 mark, pushing the margin to 40-7. Chilek also contributed five catches for 44 yards, giving the Owls production on both sides of the ball.

USM still found offensive production, finishing with 311 total yards on 59 plays. Thomas accounted for the bulk of that work, throwing for 173 yards on 16 completions and adding 104 rushing yards on 18 attempts. Eli Miranda added a 1-yard touchdown run with 7:11 left in the fourth quarter for the Spires' final points. Miranda also made an impact defensively with eight total tackles and two sacks for 11 yards as the Spires recorded four sacks as a team.

WWU held the edge in efficiency, totaling 327 yards on just 47 plays, good for 7.0 yards per snap. The Owls also converted 4 of 6 third-down chances and committed only five penalties. USM finished with 11 first downs, went 5 of 14 on third down and was intercepted twice as William Woods improved to 3-5 in conference play while USM dropped to 1-7.

The road trip to Fulton was the kick off to a three game road series for USM flag, traveling next to Salina, Kansas for a makeup game against the KWU Coyotes on Wednesday, April 8^th with game time set for 3:00 p.m.