Lady Statesmen Crush AIB with Huge Second Half
William Penn Women’s Athletics
Des Moines–Five players reached double figures as William Penn rallied from a poor start to dominate AIB 91-68 in Midwest Collegiate Conference action Wednesday.
The Lady Statesmen (10-7, 1-1 MCC) struggled out of the gate, falling behind 21-8 just 6:09 into the evening.
The visitors caught fire, though, scoring 15 of the next 17 points to draw even. Both squads hit several buckets in the waning minutes, but William Penn had the last laugh. Brittany May (Jr., Gladstone, Ore., Biology) hit one of her game-high six three-pointers in the final minute to give the navy and gold a 44-43 halftime advantage.
The teams fought closely through the first five-plus minutes of the second stanza, knotting up at 54-54. William Penn then fortunately rattled off seven unanswered and never held a lead smaller than six again.
Despite up just 65-58 with 10:02 remaining, the Lady Statesmen closed with a flourish, outscoring the Eagles (1-15, 0-3 MCC) 26-10 in the final part of regulation.
Orielle Thomas (Sr., Waynesville, Mo., Physical Education) topped all players in both points (20) and rebounds (10) for her eighth double-double of the campaign. The senior was 8-of-11 from the field to guide William Penn to a 45.5%-37.7% shooting edge.
May’s perimeter game helped her to a season-high 18 points (WPU hit 11 trifectas overall), while Jessie Kreuser (So., Mendota Heights, Minn., Undecided) and Vanessa Kieres (So., Chicago, Ill., Physical Education) finished with 14 and 12 points, respectively. All three accomplished their feats off the bench.
Katie Golomski (So., Milwaukee, Wis., Psychology) also eclipsed double digits with ten points and Sam Abens (Jr., Knoxville, Iowa, Physical Education) managed eight points. Golomski also blocked two shots.
Sarah Martin (Sr., Anthem, Ariz., Physical Education) dished out four assists, while Thomas tied for the game high in steals with four.
“It took us a while to get going, but we fought through AIB’s first half energy and brought some of our own,” Head Coach Mike Brown said. “Vanessa was a great spark in the first half and Brittany hit some big three-pointers. Jesse was really good inside as well. It is good to get even in league play.”
The Lady Statesmen outrebounded AIB 50-38 and committed just 16 turnovers compared to 23 by the Eagles. The squad overcame making eight fewer free throws, 18-10, than its host.
Next: William Penn returns to Oskaloosa Saturday to host Clarke in MCC play at 1 p.m.
