Hot First Half Leads to 80-56 William Penn Win Over Clarke
Orielle Thomas fights for the rebound against Clarke on Saturday.
Oskaloosa–The Lady Statesmen cagers hit nearly two-thirds of their field goals prior to halftime en route to an 80-56 victory against Clarke in Midwest Collegiate Conference play Saturday.
William Penn (11-7, 2-1 MCC) moved to four games over .500 for the first time this season, in large part due to 64.7% shooting in the first 20 minutes (47.1% overall). The navy and gold defense also limited the Crusaders (4-13, 1-3 MCC) to just 30.4% shooting on the afternoon.
A ten-point WPU lead with only 4:08 left in the first stanza (39-29) doubled to 51-31 by intermission with a 12-2 run. The Lady Statesmen continued to pour it on to start the second half, jumping the margin to 35 points at 70-35 with 13:05 left in regulation. The victors cruised from there.
Much of the home team’s success came in way of its defensive effort. The navy and gold forced 18 turnovers (WPU had 11 mistakes), converting them into 24 points. Clarke only came up with four points off of the Lady Statesmen’s errors. A 43-36 rebounding advantage helped the hosts to a 13-6 mark in second-chance points as well.
Orielle Thomas (Sr., Waynesville, Mo., Physical Education) narrowly missed another double-double with 17 points and nine rebounds (both team highs). The senior was perfect from the floor, making all eight of her attempts.
Jessie Kreuser (So., Mendota Heights, Minn., Undecided) matched her teammate with nine boards.
Sarah Martin (Sr., Anthem, Ariz., Physical Education) was tremendous at the point, scoring 16 points with seven assists. Katie Golomski (So., Milwaukee, Wis., Psychology) provided her team’s perimeter power, making all four of WPU’s three-pointers on her way to 14 total points.
Janay Pritchett (So., Cedar Rapids, Iowa, Biology) was also in double figures with ten points, while Sam Abens (Jr., Knoxville, Iowa, Physical Education) was an asset as well with eight points. More importantly, though, she guided the defense with five steals.
“Sarah was a huge catalyst for us at the top,” Head Coach Mike Brown said. “She was aggressive and broke down the defense, which allowed us some easy points in the paint. It also opened up our outside game.”
“Orielle was amazing in making all of her shots and our bench players did a great job of keeping the momentum going,” Brown added.
Next: William Penn remains in Oskaloosa Wednesday to host Viterbo in MCC play at 5:30 p.m.
