Statesmen Stave Off Upset Bid by MVC
Oskaloosa–The William Penn women’s basketball team stepped to the charity stripe at a season-high rate Saturday as it was able to survive 74-71 against Missouri Valley in Heart of America Athletic Conference play.
#20 WPU (18-5, 14-4 Heart), which won its third game in a row, was 28-for-35 (both season bests) at the free-throw line.
The navy and gold completed the season sweep of the Vikings (4-18, 3-16 Heart), despite being outshot 48.0%-44.2% and being outrebounded 27-26.
The hosts led 16-14 after one quarter and extended that advantage to 34-26 at halftime. Missouri Valley did not allow William Penn to make its patented second-half run, though, actually closing the deficit to just one entering the final period. The Statesmen did pull out to a game-high 13-point edge at 43-30, but the visitors’ 16-4 run made it 47-46.
MVC added two more points to start the fourth for its first advantage since the first quarter. WPU answered with 10 consecutive points, only to witness the Vikings go on their own 11-0 run.
Kate Ylitalo (Sr., Maple Plain, Minn., Biology) gave her squad the lead for good with a three-pointer at the 2:18 mark. From that juncture on, the only shots the Statesmen took came from the line as they closed 11-for-13 (nine straight). Four free throws were all in one possession inside the final minute as Ylitalo was intentionally fouled and Brenda Pennington (Sr., Hammond, Ind., Psychology) was also harmed.
Missouri Valley still had a chance to knot the game at the buzzer, but a final trifecta would not drop and the Statesmen were able to stay alone in second place, two games behind Central Methodist.
Pennington tallied a team-high 21 points (13-for-14 FT), while Haley Mullinnix (Jr., West Branch, Iowa, Sports Management) was next with 17 points. Pennington also shared the ball well with four assists. Ylitalo joined the double-digit club as well with 14 points in addition to two steals.
Bailey Reardon (Fr., River Falls, Wis., Elementary Education) contributed seven points and Autumn Voigt (Sr., Clintonville, Wis., Business Management) finished with six. Voigt topped WPU with seven rebounds as well.
While the navy and gold made and tried more free throws than they had all year, the Vikings were only 12-for-17. The Statesmen also managed to finish on top despite having two more turnovers (15-13) than its foe.
“We got lucky today,” Head Coach Steve Williamson said. “We have to give Missouri Valley credit as they out-played us all game, but we were fortunate to have a few more points on the scoreboard in the end.”
“We need to start playing to our abilities and understand how hard we have to play to be successful in this conference,” Williamson added.
Next Up: William Penn remains in Oskaloosa next Wednesday to host Culver-Stockton in Heart action at 5:30 p.m.
