Defense Leads Statesmen to 84-68 Defeat of Pride
William Penn University Athletics
by Wade Steinlage
Dubuque–The Statesmen women’s basketball team faced stiff competition Thursday, but remained unblemished on the season as it won 84-68 over Clarke in Heart of America Athletic Conference action.
William Penn (8-0, 5-0 Heart) was outshot 46.3%-43.5% and outrebounded 39-27, but forced the Pride (6-2, 2-2 Heart) into 29 turnovers (just 11 for WPU) to earn the win. The victors also hit 12 three-pointers (26 attempts, 46.2%) and were nearly perfect at the line (18-for-21, 85.7%).
The navy and gold put their hosts in the rearview quickly with a 14-4 edge just 6:26 into the night. CU eventually caught up to WPU at 19-19, but that would serve as the only tie of the contest. William Penn then scored the next six points and went into the locker room up 36-30 at halftime.
Makenzie Pezley (So., Keokuk, Iowa, Elementary Education) had a breakout game with 11 first-half points; she would finish with a season-high 18. She was the star before the break, while Kate Ylitalo (So., Maple Plain, Minn., Biology) took over after intermission with 18 points, highlighted by a quintet of trifectas en route to a game-high 23 points on 8-for-15 shooting (6-for-9 3-PT).
WPU’s advantage fluctuated in the third period, going as high as 10 before trimming back down to three. Ahead 57-51 with 10 minutes to play, the visitors made sure it would not be a barn-burner, going on a 19-6 run to open the stanza and put the contest out of reach. William Penn outscored Clarke 27-17 in the final quarter to remain perfect and set up a huge battle on Saturday with fellow undefeated Heart squad #12 MidAmerica Nazarene in Olathe, Kan. (tip-off at 2 p.m.).
The squad’s 8-0 start is now alone in second place for the second-best in program history; there is a lot of work to do, though, to catch the best start ever, which is 19-0 during the 1974-1975 campaign.
Entering the matchup, the Statesmen knew that rebounds would be tough to secure as the Pride led NAIA Division I in rebounding margin at +21.3 (second overall with 54.6 total per game). Although WPU came up 12 shy of CU’s final tally, it actually outscored the home team 8-6 in second-chance points.
The story of the game, though, was turnovers as the navy and gold’s stifling defense limited Clarke; the Statesmen took advantage, holding an 11-2 advantage in points off mistakes.
Vashti Nwagbaraocha (Sr., Milwaukee, Wis., Exercise Science) was a big player on the hardwood as well, matching Pezley with 18 points. The senior also led her team with six rebounds and was second with four steals.
Brenda Pennington (Jr., Hammond, Ind., Psychology) was just short of double figures with nine points, while also recording five assists.
Jenna Santi (Sr., Oak Creek, Wis., Sports Management), with six points and a team-high five steals, and Autumn Voigt (Jr., Clintonville, Wis., Business Management), with five points off the bench, were contributors in the victory as well.
“I am very happy with our defensive effort tonight,” Head Coach Steve Williamson said. “We created a lot of opportunities for our offense because of our defense.”
