Balanced Attack Leads WPU Past Viterbo 80-60
The William Penn Lady Statesmen defeated Viterbo Wednesday night.
Oskaloosa–Ten players scored at least three points as the Statesmen women’s basketball team had little issue with Viterbo, winning Wednesday’s Midwest Collegiate Conference matchup 80-60.
William Penn (12-15, 4-7 MCC) nearly shot twice as well as the V-Hawks (2-25, 1-10 MCC), 53.7%-28.8%, to pick up the home victory.
The visitors got on the board first with a three-pointer, but the navy and gold responded with eight straight and led the remainder of the night. Up 12-10 at the 14:04 mark, William Penn went on a 12-0 run and held a double-digit advantage for all but 1:19 of the remainder of the game.
The Statesmen were up 40-27 at halftime and expanded the margin to as much as 24 points in the final four minutes of play. William Penn was even pretty keel throughout the night, shooting 53.8% in the first stanza and 53.6% in the latter period.
Not only was the host squad hot from the floor, but it was boiling at the free-throw line with a 17-for-18 outing, including hitting its last ten tries.
A 41-34 rebounding edge was also secured by WPU, but Viterbo kept it respectable with eight more offensive boards (13-5) which led to five more second-chance points (12-7). William Penn committed seven extra turnovers as well, helping its foe to a 16-6 edge in points off mistakes.
Two double-doubles were nearly obtained Wednesday as Jessie Kreuser (Jr., Mendota Heights, Minn., Undecided) managed 12 points and nine rebounds and Susan Smith (Sr., Eugene, Ore., Biology) tallied nine points and eight assists.
Dani Stahle (Sr., South Weber, Utah, History/Government & Psychology) was WPU’s leading scorer with 13 points, while Brittany May (Sr., Gladstone, Ore., Biology), with 11, and Vanessa Kieres (Jr., Chicago, Ill., Exercise Science), with ten, also eclipsed double digits.
“This was another quality team win,” Head Coach Mike Brown said. “We are sharing the ball and becoming more of a team as we head towards the conference tournament.”
Alyssa Phillips (Fr., Gurnee, Ill., Communications) added eight points, while six more came from Megan Evangelista (Sr., Chanhassen, Minn., Biology).
Next: William Penn remains in Oskaloosa Saturday to host Grand View at 1 p.m. The game is both the regular season finale and Senior Day.
