Taylor Ties Scoring Record as Lady Eagles Take Overtime Thriller Over Stars in AMC Semifinal

WALNUT RIDGE, Ark. (3/1/25) – Forty points from Charmen Taylor led the Williams Baptist University women's basketball team to a 106-92 victory in overtime over Stephens in the semifinal round of the American Midwest Conference Tournament inside the Southerland-Mabee Center on Saturday.

Taylor's 40 points ties her teammate Kaylee Isaacs' school record for points in a single game.  Taylor also scored the third most points in an AMC Tournament game.  Taylor and Sara Crowe tied for the team lead in rebounds with seven each.

Carmen Taylor followed with 35 points in the contest.  Carmen also led the Lady Eagles with five steals on the night.  Taylor Hooten dished out six assists.

As a team, the Lady Eagles went 36-for-70 (51.4 percent) from the field and 4-for-11 from three-point range.  WBU went 30-for-38 from the free throw line, tying the AMC Tournament record for free throw makes and setting the tournament record for free throw attempts.

WBU scored 39 points on 26 Stars turnovers in the win.  Stephens won the rebound battle 37-35.

Charmen Taylor gave WBU an 11-7 lead in the first quarter before the Stars went on an 11-6 run to end the first quarter to take a 22-17 lead.

Stephens added on to its lead in the second quarter as a three-point play from LaiJanique Perry-Ellis put the Stars up 34-22 with seven minutes to play in the period.  A layup from Carmen Taylor cut the lead to six before halftime.

The Stars began the third quarter with a five-point swing to push the advantage back to 11 points.  Stephens led by as much as 13 in the third quarter.  

Chu Crockett pushed the Stephens lead to 81-76 with two and a half minutes to play in the fourth quarter after a three-point play.  With under a minute to go, Kaylee Isaacs tied the game at 83 on a layup.  Stephens scored on the other end and fouled to send Sara Crowe to the line.  Crowe missed the first and hit the second to cut the lead to one.  

An intentional foul with five seconds remaining sent the Stars to the charity stripe with an opportunity to put the game on ice, but the shooter missed both free throw attempts.  After an Eagle timeout, Charmen Taylor tied the game at 86 on a last-second layup to send the contest to overtime.

The Lady Eagles dominated the overtime period.  Two free throws from Charmen Taylor kicked off an 8-0 run that put Williams up 96-88.  The Lady Eagles defense forced six turnovers in the final five minutes to out-score the Stars 20-6 in extra time and take the semifinal victory.

The win moves WBU to 27-3 overall on the season.  The Lady Eagles will move on to face Columbia in an AMC Tournament Final rematch on Monday, Mar. 3.  Tip-off against the Cougars is set for 5:30 p.m. from inside the Southerland-Mabee Center.