Poor Finish Keeps Lady Statesmen from Upset of Grand View
William Penn Women's Athletics
Des Moines–The William Penn women’s basketball team has been in search of a season-defining win for some time, but the hunt has been extended as the Lady Statesmen fell 67-60 to #8 Grand View in Midwest Collegiate Conference action Wednesday.
The loss drops William Penn (9-17, 7-8 MCC) into fifth in the MCC, but fortunately its final three league contests are against teams with losing records. On the flip side, current #4 seed Viterbo still has Grand View and second place Mount Mercy on its slate. Therefore, odds are that the Lady Statesmen are still in great shape to host an MCC Tournament game.
The navy and gold shot well Wednesday with a 44.6%-36.4% edge, but struggled to keep control of the ball. The visitors lost possession 22 times, while only forcing Grand View (22-5, 14-1 MCC) into ten turnovers. The turnover margin resulted in a commanding 21-9 Viking advantage in points off turnovers.
The bigger culprit, however, may have been found at the charity stripe with the hosts going 17-of-19, while the Lady Statesmen finished just 6-of-10.
Trailing 35-34 at halftime, William Penn remained close and exchanged the lead a total of 15 times with its host. The game was finally tied for the second time at 60-60 with 3:24 remaining.
Unfortunately, the final minutes were dominated by Grand View as it scored the final seven points, including making six of its last seven free-throw tries. The Lady Statesmen, on the other hand, were inept in the end, committing four turnovers and missing four field goals after knotting the game.
Grand View was led, as it has been all year, by Jennifer Jorgensen. The NAIA’s leading scorer tallied a double-double of 30 points and 11 rebounds.
William Penn, who was competing without top scorer Orielle Thomas (So., Waynesville, Mo., Waynesville HS), countered with two players in double digits.
Katie Golomski (Fr., Milwaukee, Wis., Pius Xi HS) paced her team with 13 points (three three-pointers), while Taylor Reed (Jr., Kalamazoo, Mich., Kalamazoo Valley CC) added 12 points. Each individual grabbed a team-best seven rebounds as the navy and gold owned a 38-30 rebounding edge.
Vanessa Kieres (Fr., Chicago, Ill., Regina Dominican HS) just missed the mark with nine points and Jessi Kreuser (Fr., Mendota Heights, Minn., Henry Sibley HS) notched eight.
Susan Smith (Jr., Eugene, Ore., Lane CC) contributed six points and Sarah Martin (Jr., Anthem, Ariz., Boulder Creek HS) finished with five points and a squad-high four assists.
Next: The Lady Statesmen travel to Dubuque Saturday to face Clarke in MCC play at 1 p.m.
