Statesmen Advance with 60-38 Play-In Win Over Peru State
Statesmen Advance with 60-38 Play-In Win Over Peru State
Oskaloosa–The William Penn women’s basketball team lives to fight another day after defeating #10 seed Peru State 60-38 in the first round of the Heart of America Athletic Conference Tournament Tuesday.
With the victory, the seventh-seeded Statesmen (14-16) will now travel to Olathe, Kan. Thursday to take on #9 and second-seeded MidAmerica Nazarene in the quarterfinals at 7 p.m. WPU was swept by the Pioneers in the regular season, falling 64-49 on December 12 and 85-69 on February 6.
William Penn earned the advancement by limiting the Bobcats (6-25) to 23.2% shooting, while making 39.3% of its own shots. More impressively, though, WPU dominated the rebounding category with a 57-26 edge, including an 18-6 mark on the offensive glass (17-2 edge in second-chance points).
PSC battled hard in the opening period as the navy and gold led just 15-9 after the first 10 minutes. The Bobcats continued to be a thorn in William Penn’s proverbial side in the second quarter as the Statesmen led 28-21 at halftime.
Neither team had much offensive success in the third quarter, but a 9-4 advantage extended the Statesmen advantage to 12 points. The final stanza was by far WPU’s best; highlighted by an 11-2 run, a fairly close 40-32 game turned into an eventual blowout.
Peru State was feisty on the defensive end, forcing the hosts into 24 turnovers (15 for the Bobcats). Fortunately, the Statesmen were only outscored 14-10 in points off turnovers. William Penn also limited the visiting squad to 11.8% (2-for-17) from beyond the arc.
Alyssa Phillips (Jr., Gurnee, Ill., Communications) posted a double-double with 14 points and 10 rebounds. Kadejah Young (Sr., Minneapolis, Minn., Physical Education) also reached double digits with 13 points (7-for-8 FT).
Vashti Nwagbaraocha (Fr., Milwaukee, Wis., Exercise Science) just missed her own double-double with nine points and 13 rebounds, while Briana McRae (Jr., Racine, Wis., Undecided) added six points and Jenna Santi (Fr., Oak Creek, Wis., Elementary Education) distributed three assists. Santi and Ashlee Harper (Sr., Los Angeles, Calif., Exercise Science) stole the ball from PSC three times each as well.
“I am very happy to see this team advance past the first round,” Head Coach Willie Scott said. “It was not pretty, but we will take it. Defensively, we did a great job and for the next round we need to put it all together on both ends.”
