WPU 2-0 After 81-68 Win Over Missouri Valley
William Penn Women captured the win in it’s season home opener.
Oskaloosa–The Statesmen women’s basketball team had another balanced attack to remain perfect with an 81-68 non-conference win over Missouri Valley Friday.
William Penn (2-0), which only trailed for a few minutes in the first half and never by more than three, won its first two games of the season for the second-straight campaign.
Similar to Monday’s season-opening victory against Waldorf, the defense was spectacular. The Vikings (0-1) shot just 32.4% from the field, while the Statesmen were considerably stronger at 42.2%. The navy and gold offense was highlighted by its perimeter attack (13-of-29, 44.8%).
The hosts, who led 43-33 at intermission, pulled out to a game-best 20-point edge with 11:49 remaining. The margin was narrowed to 13 a few times, but WPU was never really threatened late.
Katie Golomski (Jr., Milwaukee, Wis., Psychology & Sociology) paced the victors with 17 points on 6-of-11 shooting, including three three-pointers. She also shared the squad lead for rebounds with eight. The Statesmen owned a 52-43 advantage on the glass.
Janay Pritchett (Jr., Cedar Rapids, Iowa, Biology & Sociology) add 14 points, while Lauren McKinnis (Sr., Chicago, Ill., Sociology) guided the bench with 13 points. McKinnis matched Golomski with three trifectas.
Dani Stahle (Sr., South Weber, Utah, History/Government & Psychology) reached double figures as well with ten points and also led William Penn with six assists.
Megan Evangelista (Sr., Chanhassen, Minn., Biology) was the star in the first half with three deep balls of her own for nine points, while Brittany May (Sr., Gladstone, Ore., Biology) tallied eight points.
Susan Smith (Sr., Eugene, Ore., Biology) finished with six points and a team-high four steals.
William Penn overcame committing three more turnovers than Missouri Valley, 19-16, and making three fewer free throws, 14-17.
“This was a good team win with everyone contributing,” Head Coach Mike Brown said. “I thought our players did a good job of attacking them all night and eventually our numbers wore them down. They had some pretty tall, athletic players, but I thought we did a decent job managing their size and athleticism. Megan was huge in the first half with her three-pointers and it was good to get Lauren going off the bench. Katie and Janay were steady and Susan was a great leader.”
Next: William Penn travels to Lamoni Saturday to face Graceland in non-conference action at 6 p.m.
