Phillips, Roper Help Statesmen Roll to 86-60 Road Win
William Penn University Athletics
Cedar Rapids–Alyssa Phillips (Sr., Gurnee, Ill., Communications) and Asia Roper (Sr., Aurora, Colo., Psychology) each produced a double-double as the William Penn women’s basketball team claimed an 86-60 Heart of America Athletic Conference road win over Mount Mercy Wednesday.
WPU (11-6, 9-4 Heart) was hot from the field at 53.3% and also stingy on the defensive end as it limited the Mustangs (8-10, 5-9 Heart) to just 29.7% overall (1-for-14 3-PT). The win cements the navy and gold’s footing in fifth place, just 2.5 games behind Central Methodist and Benedictine as the second half of league play began Wednesday night.
The visitors trailed for just a few minutes in the early going before taking the lead for good at 12-11. The Statesmen then closed the half on a 15-2 run to pull away for a 40-25 intermission edge. They also outscored the home team 26-16 in the third period to cruise as they finished off the season sweep of MMU.
Sarah Hansen (Jr., Kewanee, Ill., Psychology and Human Services) was unavailable for action due to illness, but her teammates filled the stat sheet just fine in her absence. Nine different Statesmen scored in the win with Phillips topping the charts with 18. The senior also pulled down 13 rebounds and blocked six shots; WPU outrebounded Mount Mercy 43-37 and had nine total blocks. The six blocks are the most for an individual since 2002-2003 and tie for the seventh-most all-time.
Roper put 15 points on the board, but was even more stellar at the point with 12 assists, the third-most in school history (record is 14) and the most since 1987-1988.
Not that those two numbers are not impressive enough, but the senior also collected seven steals (also in top 10 all-time) as part of an 18-steal night for William Penn. She guided the Statesmen to a +5 turnover ratio (23-28), which resulted in a 14-4 advantage in points off mistakes.
Two more WPU players reached double figures with GeLina Webb (Sr., Crete, Ill., Software Engineering) at 13 and Brynesha Mosby (So., Belleville, Ill., Biology) at 12. Vashti Nwagbaraocha (So., Milwaukee, Wis., Exercise Science) contributed seven points, while Kate Ylitalo (Fr., Maple Plain, Minn., Biology), Shannika Bryant (Sr., Chicago, Ill., Exercise Science), and JeAnn Hiraldo (Jr., Frisco, Texas, Industrial Technology) all ended the evening with six points apiece.
“I told our team in order to be a top-25 team, we have to earn it,” Head Coach Willie Scott said. “We have to play tougher and be more consistent. Although we did not play great, we did send a message. We had a lot of great performances tonight, including Alyssa, Brynesha, and GeLina, and an outstanding performance from Asia at the point. She played like we want our point guards to play.”
Next Up: William Penn travels to Fayette, Mo. Saturday to face #13 Central Methodist in Heart action at 2 p.m.
