Second-Half Dominance Gives WPU Win over MVC
Marshall, Mo.–Four players reached double figures as the William Penn women’s basketball team returned to the win column Saturday, defeating Missouri Valley 77-52 in Heart of America Athletic Conference action.
Led by a 51.7%-37.3% shooting advantage, the 25th-ranked Statesmen (4-2, 2-1 Heart) controlled three of the four quarters en route to the road victory.
The visitors scored 10 of the first 12 points and rolled to a 20-12 edge after the first quarter. The advantage was still 10 at 25-15 with 6:22 to go until halftime, but the Vikings (1-5, 0-3 Heart) battled back with 12 unanswered to lead 32-31 at intermission.
The sides exchanged buckets in the first few minutes of the third stanza and were tied 36-36, but the navy and gold came alive over the next several possessions and pulled away with a 16-1 run and never looked back.
Missouri Valley trimmed the margin to nine at 57-48 midway through the final quarter, but William Penn closed extremely strong with 20 of the final 24 points. Defense led the way down the stretch as WPU forced six of MVC’s 16 total turnovers in the fourth; in the end, WPU outscored its host 26-14 in points off turnovers (WPU with 15 errors). Haley Mullinnix (Jr., West Branch, Iowa, Sports Management) led the defensive charge with four steals.
The Statesmen also took advantage of the poor three-point shooting (1-for-21) by the Vikings. Conversely, the navy and gold knocked down 10 trifectas, paced by four from Kate Ylitalo (Sr., Maple Plain, Minn., Biology) as part of her game-high 18 points.
The senior also pulled down six rebounds to tie for the contest high, but the visiting crew was outrebounded 35-31 as a whole. Despite having three fewer offensive boards (16-13), the victors claimed a 17-13 edge in second-chance points.
William Penn also overcame being outscored 13-5 at the free-throw line.
Brittany West (Jr., Shakopee, Minn., Sports Management) was next in scoring for WPU with 16 points, while Autumn Voigt (Sr., Clintonville, Wis., Business Management) (11) and Bailey Reardon (Fr., River Falls, Wis., Elementary Education) (10) both went 4-for-5 from the field to also hit double digits. Voight had two blocks as well.
Brenda Pennington (Sr., Hammond, Ind., Psychology) and Pezley each contributed six points, while Pennington was also impressive in distribution with seven assists. Nine different Statesmen scored Saturday.
Next Up: William Penn returns to Oskaloosa Tuesday to host Grand View in Heart action at 5:30 p.m.
