William Penn Claims Crazy Win Against Avila, 59-57
William Penn University Athletics
Kansas City, Mo.–Vashti Nwagbaraocha (So., Milwaukee, Wis., Exercise Science) scored the game-winning bucket with one second left as the Statesmen women’s basketball team slipped past Avila 59-57 in Heart of America Athletic Conference action Thursday.
William Penn (6-3, 5-1 Heart) made just 30.6% of its field goals, but its defense forced a mind-blowing 37 turnovers.
The visitors, who have won three in a row, started slowly, trailing 17-11 after the first 10 minutes of play, but rallied with a 14-8 second-quarter edge to knot the contest at 25-25 entering intermission. The navy and gold continued was also strong in the third stanza, pulling out to a 10-point edge before settling on a 46-38 lead going into the final quarter.
Unfortunately, the Eagles (1-7, 0-6 Heart) fought back as they sought out their first league victory. The home team tied the game at 57-57 and had a chance to take the lead in the waning seconds. Their potential winning shot was off the mark, though, and Nwagbaraocha pulled down the board with five seconds remaining.
Then, after a strange officiating call allowed WPU to move the ball across mid-court without any time coming off the clock, Nwagbaraocha hit a long jumper for the game-winner. The sophomore tied for the game lead in points with 17, including a pair of three-pointers, while also tallying six steals, five assists, and one block.
Avila, which shot 39.6% overall, misfired on a buzzer-beating heave to end the contest.
The Statesmen’s 29-18 advantage in points off turnovers more than made up for the fact that WPU struggled from the floor and was outrebounded 41-24. Fortunately, that edge only led to a 12-11 mark in second-chance points for the hosts.
Alyssa Phillips (Sr., Gurnee, Ill., Communications) was next on the scoring list with nine points in addition to three blocked shots, while Brynesha Mosby (So., Belleville, Ill., Biology) connected on all four of her shots for eight points.
Asia Roper (Sr., Aurora, Colo., Psychology) matched Mosby with eight, while Sarah Hansen (Jr., Neponset, Ill., Psychology and Human Services) had six points and Kate Ylitalo (Fr., Maple Plain, Minn., Biology) added five Thursday.
“In the awesome game of basketball, if you play it long enough, you will experience that one night where it feels like a lid is covering the rim and that was tonight,” Head Coach Willie Scott said. “Our goal is to keep teams under 60 points and even if we only score 61, we still win.”
“Vashti carried us all the way and played like a first-team all-conference performer,” Scott added.
Next Up: William Penn returns to Oskaloosa Saturday to host Evangel in Heart action at 2 p.m.
