Statesmen Upset Wildcats in Overtime
William Penn University Athletics
Oskaloosa–In a season already highlighted by a few memorable contests, Wednesday night’s win may be the best yet as the William Penn women’s basketball team knocked off Heart of America Athletic Conference foe Culver-Stockton (Mo.) 65-61 in overtime.
WPU (12-12, 9-8 Heart) dropped the #30 team in the nation by switching up its style of play. The Statesmen said goodbye to the deep ball (only five three-point attempts) and hello to a full-court press; C-SC committed 22 fouls amid the faster pace.
“We decided to change the way we play,” Head Coach Willie Scott said. “We want fewer three-pointers, more free throws, and to force the opposing team to play at a faster pace. I could not be more proud of our team. The ladies played their hearts out; this is a huge win for us tonight.”
Neither team shot the ball terribly well (WPU held the higher mark, 37.7%-32.8%), especially in the first quarter as the Statesmen led 10-8. They pushed the advantage to six before the Wildcats (18-7, 11-6 Heart) responded and claimed a 24-22 edge at the break.
Culver-Stockton pulled ahead by four early in the third, but William Penn remained close and eventually tallied the last five points to take a 36-34 margin after 30 minutes of action.
Eight unanswered points in the middle of the fourth period put WPU ahead by a seemingly insurmountable 10-point edge. Unfortunately, the visitors made it clear to everyone why they are ranked where they are by recording 11 consecutive points.
Suddenly inept on the offensive end, the Statesmen were up against the wall, but Shannika Bryant (Jr., Chicago, Ill., Exercise Science) broke the run with a bucket; she was 9-for-14 Wednesday. The teams exchange shots, but the three-pointer by Kadejah Young (Sr., Minneapolis, Minn., Physical Education) was a bit bigger, making it 53-51 with 31 seconds to go.
C-SC’s TJ Hart had a monster second half and tied the matchup with two free throws. Both squads were denied in the waning seconds and were forced to play five more minutes to determine a winner.
Bryant managed the first points, two of her team-best 19, to start the extra period and the Statesmen never trailed again. Up one at 60-59 with under a minute to play, Destiny Spinner (Sr., Saginaw, Mich., Biology) then connected on the biggest shot of the night. With only one second on the shot clock, Young inbounded the ball to her and the senior got the bounce on a deep trifecta. Spinner concluded the win with 15 points.
Following a pair of Wildcat free throws cut the margin to two, Vashti Nwagbaraocha (Fr., Milwaukee, Wis., Exercise Science) iced the showdown by making half of her final four free throws while the defense managed a pair of stops in the final 20-plus seconds. The freshman contributed just five points on a rough night from the field, but made an impact in other ways with 11 rebounds and four assists.
In the end, though, the best all-around showing may have been produced by Alyssa Phillips (Jr., Gurnee, Ill., Communications). The junior’s stat line read: 13 points, 12 rebounds, 5 steals, and 5 blocked shots.
Young posted 13 points and four assists.
The teams tied in rebounding with 49 each, but WPU was better at taking advantage with a 22-13 tally in second-chance points.
Next Up: William Penn travels to Springfield, Mo. Saturday to face Evangel in Heart action at 2 p.m.
