Statesmen Fail to Duplicate First Half in Loss to Ranked Ravens
#19 Benedictine bettered the Statesmen women at home.
Oskaloosa–At intermission Thursday night, the William Penn women’s basketball team was in position to climb another rung on the league ladder, but second-half woes prevented the upset as the Statesmen fell 78-66 to #19 Benedictine in Heart of America Athletic Conference action.
WPU (10-6, 8-4 Heart) was down 21-18 after the first quarter, but outscored the Ravens 23-15 in the second period to hold a 41-36 halftime edge.
William Penn came out of the locker room on fire, extending its advantage to 12 at 50-38, but BC took over from there with a 22-4 run that gave the visitors the lead for good.
The hosts, who shot 50.0% in the first half, were limited to a 34.5% clip in the second half and could not keep pace with Benedictine (11-5, 10-2 Heart). The Statesmen closed to within one with just over seven minutes remaining, but the Ravens controlled the waning moments.
WPU held a 43.1%-42.3% shooting edge Thursday, but was dominated on the boards, 52-31. The navy and gold defense pressured Benedictine into 18 turnovers; unfortunately, William Penn committed 21 mistakes itself.
Sarah Hansen (Jr., Kewanee, Ill., Psychology and Human Services) headlined the Statesmen with 13 points, while Alyssa Phillips (Sr., Gurnee, Ill., Communications) was next with 11 points and three blocks. Helena Rodriguez (Sr., Zion, Ill., Sociology) also joined the double-digit club with 10 points off the bench on 5-for-7 shooting; she dished out five assists as well.
Brynesha Mosby (So., Belleville, Ill., Biology) was one shy of the joining the trio with nine points, while GeLina Webb (Sr., Crete, Ill., Software Engineering) contributed five points.
Asia Roper (Sr., Aurora, Colo., Psychology) paced WPU with six assists, while defensively, JeAnn Hiraldo (Jr., Frisco, Texas, Industrial Technology) stole a trio of passes.
“We wanted to speed them up and play a fast-paced game, not letting them put us to sleep in a half-court matchup,” Head Coach Willie Scott said. “We did a solid job of sticking to our game plan, but just ran out of gas in the second half. I have to give them credit for holding on despite our pressure and finishing with a lot of poise. That is why they are 19th in the nation. Unfortunately, our defense broke down late and we did not make enough shots.”
Next Up: Saturday’s game at Missouri Valley has already been postponed due to inclement weather, so the Statesmen will be off until next Wednesday when they travel to Cedar Rapids to face Mount Mercy in Heart action at 5:30 p.m.
