Statesmen Fall to Mount Mercy 74-68

Katie Golomski had 12 points at that juncture and finished with 18 points.

Oskaloosa–The William Penn women’s basketball team pulled out to a sizeable advantage in the second half, but could not finish off Mount Mercy in a 74-68 Midwest Collegiate Conference loss Saturday.

The Statesmen (8-11, 1-2 MCC) were much stronger in the first half, owning a 37-28 intermission edge. Katie Golomski (Sr., Milwaukee, Wis., Psychology & Sociology) had 12 points at that juncture and finished with 18 points. Unfortunately, she needed 19 to reach a major milestone as the senior currently sits at 999 career points.

The Statesmen lead grew to as much as 12 in the opening minute of the second stanza. The hosts continued to have a nine-point edge at 60-51 with 9:06 on the clock, but the Mustangs (10-11, 1-2 MCC) slowly chipped away until they finally took the lead for good at 69-66.

Vanessa Kieres (Sr., Chicago, Ill., Exercise Science) made two of her ten free throws as part of an 18-point effort to cut the deficit to one, but MMU closed out the afternoon with five straight for the win. Kieres also paced the navy and gold with four assists and three steals.

Alyssa Phillips (So., Gurnee, Ill., Communications) was a team-best 5-for-8 from the floor for 11 points as William Penn was outshot 37.0%-33.3%.

Jessie Kreuser (Sr., Mendota Heights, Minn., Physical Education), who just missed a double-double with nine points and 11 rebounds, headlined her team’s 43-38 rebounding advantage. The Statesmen scored 12 points on 15 offensive boards.

William Penn had four more three-pointers (7-3), but the visitors had a better effort at the charity stripe with a 31-21 margin in makes.

“We just gave them way too many free points and they executed down the stretch and we did not,” Head Coach Mike Brown said.

Next Up: William Penn travels to Des Moines Wednesday to face AIB in MCC play at 5:30 p.m.