Fourth-Quarter Struggles Deny Statesmen Upset Against Ranked Pride
Oskaloosa–The William Penn women’s basketball team threatened its ranked guest for three quarters, but could not finish the job in a 57-42 Heart of America Athletic Conference loss to #14 Clarke Wednesday.
WPU (5-24, 5-13 Heart) trailed by just two points entering the final 10 minutes of action, but the Pride (25-4, 16-2 Heart) pulled away to secure the top seed in next week’s Heart Tournament.
The hosts were on a mission in the opening period, outshooting CU 50.0%-16.7% and pulling out to a 17-7 advantage. Ally Stewart (Jr., Victoria, Australia, Physical Education) led the way with a pair of three-pointers.
Unfortunately, the visitors answered with a complete reversal, outscoring the navy and gold 18-7 as the Statesmen hit the locker room down 25-24.
Both sides struggled coming out of intermission, but William Penn, which hit only 16.7% of its tries, stayed within two by connecting on six free throws.
Clarke, which missed its first 18 three-pointers, finally got one to drop three minutes into the final period, though, and sprinted past the Statesmen with a 16-2 run (19-6 advantage for the entire quarter).
The defensive battle witnessed WPU get outshot 35.4%-25.9%, but managed to double up the Pride from deep 6-3. Both teams were 8-for-12 at the charity stripe.
The home team was dominated on the boards with a 54-27 deficit (17-4 offensive), which led to a 14-0 Pride advantage in second-chance points. Emma Morts (Jr., Milford, Ill., Business Management) battled her way to a team-high nine rebounds Wednesday.
William Penn answered with three fewer turnovers (10-7) and converted that into a 7-5 edge in points off turnovers.
Alexis True (Fr., Frankfort, Ky., Exercise Science) headlined the Statesmen scoring colum with 13 points in addition to three steals. Stewart joined her in double figures with 12 points.
Morts contributed six points, while Zantasia White (Jr., Lubbock, Texas, Secondary Education) added five more.
Next Up: William Penn concludes its season Saturday by traveling to Canton, Mo. to face Culver-Stockton in Heart play at 2 p.m.
