Lady Statesmen Fall 84-61 to Briar Cliff

Sarah Martin drives to the hoop versus Briar Cliff.

Oskaloosa—The William Penn women’s basketball team struggled with the intense pressure of #8 Briar Cliff, falling 84-61 in non-conference action Friday.

The Lady Statesmen (2-2) committed 26 turnovers that led to 28 Charger points. Eleven mistakes were made in the first half, but a 46.4%-30.0% shooting edge kept the hosts close through the first 20 minutes of play.

William Penn actually led for most of the first stanza, but Briar Cliff (3-0) scored six unanswered to take the lead for good at 32-30 with 4:05 remaining. The visitors, who were up 39-35 at intermission, still only led by six at the 12:00 mark. Unfortunately, they scored eight of the next nine points and the margin never returned to single digits again.

The navy and gold cooled off after the break (22.6%) to eventually lose the shooting battle 38.3%-33.9%. A 51-46 advantage on the boards did not do much for William Penn with its foe actually outscoring the Lady Statesmen 18-9 in second-chance points.

Taylor Reed (Sr., Kalamazoo, Mich., Communication) paced the effort with a double-double of 12 points and 15 rebounds.

Sarah Martin (Sr., Anthem, Ariz., Physical Education) and Megan Evangelista (Jr., Chanhassen, Minn., Biology) each poured in nine points, while Katie Golomski (So., Milwaukee, Wis., Psychology) managed eight points. Martin also dished out four assists, while Reed blocked two shots.

Sam Abens (Jr., Knoxville, Iowa, Physical Education) contributed six points with a team-high two steals.

“We really stuck with them for most of the night,” Head Coach Mike Brown said. “They pressured us into some mistakes, but I thought we gave them quite a fight considering we were missing a few players from action.”

Next: William Penn takes on another ranked Great Plains Athletic Conference foe Saturday, hosting #5 Morningside at 5 p.m.