William Penn Falls to League-Leading Eagles

William Penn Women’s Athletics

Oskaloosa–The Statesmen women’s basketball was unable to knock Central Methodist (Mo.) from its perch atop the Heart of America Athletic Conference standings as it fell 95-72 Thursday.

WPU (7-9, 4-5 Heart) dominated on the glass with a 48-33 advantage, including 23 offensive rebounds, but 16 three-pointers by the Eagles (13-2, 8-1 Heart) were too much to overcome. CMU, which is tied with MidAmerica Nazarene (Kan.) for first place in the league, outshot the home squad 50.0%-38.7%.

Central Methodist scored the game’s first 14 points and while the Statesmen got within nine points on three occasions in the opening periods, they never really threatened to pull the upset.

The 23 offensive caroms led WPU to a 19-4 edge in second-chance points. William Penn unfortunately was also outscored 21-9 in free throws and committed 19 turnovers, compared to 15 giveaways by the Eagles; the visitors managed a 19-8 mark in points off mistakes.

Headlined by 16 bench points from Sabrina Avery (Fr., Riverside, Calif., Psychology and Sociology), four Statesmen reached double figures. Kadejah Young (Sr., Minneapolis, Minn., Physical Education) was next with 15 points.

Vashti Nwagbaraocha (Fr., Milwaukee, Wis., Exercise Science) recorded a double-double with 14 points and 10 rebounds, while Briana McRae (Jr., Racine, Wis., Undecided) joined her with 14 points of her own. Nwagbaraocha also stole four passes, while McRae blocked a trio of CMU shots.

Destiny Spinner (Sr., Saginaw, Mich., Biology) tallied three assists Thursday.

“They jumped out on us early and never looked back,” Head Coach Willie Scott said. “They have an awesome five-man team and making 16 three-pointers made them even tougher to beat. We have to let this one go and get ready for the next one.”

Next Up: William Penn travels to Atchison, Kan. Saturday to face #7 Benedictine in league play at 2 p.m.