Statesmen Fall Short to HINU in First Loss of Season
Des Moines–The William Penn women’s basketball team came up empty on a pair of late shots as it fell 58-55 to Haskell Indian Nations in non-conference action Saturday.
WPU (2-1) and Haskell (3-3) started off the game in a back-and-forth battle. Ally Stewart (Sr., Victoria, Australia, Physical Education) paced the offense in the first quarter with six points; the senior finished the game with 12 points and two steals.
Going into the second quarter the Statesmen trailed 16-15, but quickly turned the scoreboard around as Zantasia White (Sr., Lubbock, Texas, Secondary Education) made a couple free throws and then knocked down a three-pointer to go up three on HINU. The lead did not last long, however, as the Indians cut into the deficit and took the lead back at 30-28 going into halftime.
The navy and gold came out of the locker room a little slow, going down nine, but White and Aiesha Feagins (Jr., Grand Prairie, Texas, Undecided) combined for 14 points to bring WPU within three points at 47-44 heading into the fourth.
Both teams were scoreless through the first three-plus minutes of the final period. Haskell then eventually got going and put William Penn into a nine-point hole. Fortunately, the Statesmen fought back and were within a single possession in the waning seconds. WPU missed on a pair of trifectas in the final ticks, though, in dropping its first contest of the campaign.
Although it was a close bout, the Statesmen were outshot by Haskell 44.0%-36.0%, but won the rebounding battle 31-22. William Penn committed four more turnovers (20-16) than HINU, which led to a 16-5 deficit in points off mistakes.
In addition to Stewart’s 12 points, White led all scorers with 15 points, while Feagins added 11 of her own.
Alexis True (Sr., Frankfort, Ky., Exercise Science) finished with eight points, six rebounds, and six assists, and Morgan Terry(Sr., Cornersville, Tenn., Biology) added six of her own.
“This was a real battle,” Head Coach Jenna Santi said. “Unfortunately, we needed to play a full 40 minutes. We will learn and adapt from this game.”
Next Up: William Penn will travel down to Fulton, Mo. next Thursday to take on William Woods in non-conference action at 5:30 p.m.
