Meaningless Regular-Season Finale Goes to Ashford
William Penn Women's Athletics
Clinton–A team always wants the ‘W’, but if it was somewhat okay to let one slip away, that came on Saturday as the Lady Statesmen lost to Ashford 59-58 in Midwest Collegiate Conference action.
No matter Saturday’s outcome, William Penn (11-18, 9-9 MCC) entered the contest knowing it was the #4 seed for the MCC Tournament–all it needed to know was who it was playing. That was determined in other action as Viterbo claimed the tiebreaker over St. Ambrose (both lost Saturday) for the #5 spot.
The Lady Statesmen will host the V-Hawks in the first round Thursday at 7 p.m. The navy and gold will be seeking the season sweep as it already won twice, 64-40 in Oskaloosa on January 4 and 48-45 in La Crosse, Wis. on February 1.
Thursday’s other first-round matchups will see #1 Grand View hosting #8 AIB in Des Moines, #2 Mount Mercy hosting #7 Ashford in Cedar Rapids, and #3 Iowa Wesleyan hosting #6 St. Ambrose in Mount Pleasant.
Saturday’s contest was a barn-burner from start to finish with neither team holding a lead of larger than six points. Unfortunately, William Penn was behind for much of the afternoon, including trailing 30-29 at intermission.
The visitors stuck close and eventually claimed the lead at 49-48 with 3:54 remaining. The Lady Statesmen went back on top two more times, lastly at 53-52 with 1:27 left.
The Saints (10-19, 6-12 MCC) finished strong, though, scoring five straight. Orielle Thomas (So., Waynesville, Mo., Waynesville HS), who returned to action by leading her team with 16 points, then knocked down a jumper to cut the deficit in half, but two free throws by Madison Wagner sealed the deal.
The Saints had a great showing at the charity stripe (17-of-18), while the Lady Statesmen were just 9-of-15.
Katie Golomski (Fr., Milwaukee, Wis., Pius Xi HS) hit a three-pointer near the buzzer to make it 59-58, but the game ended with the Saints evening up the season series.
William Penn outshot Ashford 40.4%-39.2% and held a 40-27 edge in rebounds (19-13 margin in second-chance points). Thomas topped all participants with nine rebounds.
The Lady Statesmen also committed 17 turnovers, however, resulting in 14 points for the hosts.
Jessi Kreuser (Fr., Mendota Heights, Minn., Henry Sibley HS) joined Thomas in double digits with 13 points, while Golomski and Vanessa Kieres (Fr., Chicago, Ill., Regina Dominican HS) added nine points apiece.
Sam Abens (Jr., Knoxville, Southwest Minnesota State) concluded the day with six points in addition to four assists. Sarah Martin (Jr., Anthem, Ariz., Boulder Creek HS) tallied three steals in the loss.
