Statesmen Avenge Early-Season Loss to GVU
Des Moines–The William Penn women’s basketball team returned the favor on its rival Wednesday, defeating Grand View on the road 64-54 in a Heart of America Athletic Conference matchup.
#20 WPU (17-5, 13-4 Heart) used a handful of runs to get past the Vikings (16-8, 12-6 Heart), who also won on the road in the series this year, dropping the navy and gold in Oskaloosa back in November.
The visitors were outshot 39.6%-37.9%, but were better in both rebounds (41-32, 14-7 offense) and turnovers (11-17). William Penn easily made up for its lesser shooting, outscoring GVU 12-5 in second-chance points, but much more impressively holding a 22-2 edge in points off turnovers.
Grand View opened the night with the game’s first six points. The Statesmen rallied, though, and trailed just 12-10 after the first quarter.
Still behind 17-12 early in the second period, WPU produced its largest streak with 13 unanswered points. The squad continued to stay on top, leading 31-24 into intermission.
The back-and-forth battle then witnessed the Vikings rolling out of the break for a 35-32 edge, but William Penn answered. Headlined by a three-pointer by Brenda Pennington (Sr., Hammond, Ind., Psychology) that put the Statesmen up for good, WPU scored nine straight points. A supplementary 10-2 run made it 51-40 in favor of the Statesmen entering the final stanza.
The victors were not out of woods, however, as Grand View trimmed the margin to four points at 57-53 with 3:29 remaining. Fortunately, William Penn put the game away with a solid effort at the free-throw line. The navy and gold dominated the charity stripe battle, finishing 15-for-20, while the Vikings were just 2-for-5.
The Statesmen overcame a strong GVU perimeter game (10-for-19), going 5-for-13 behind the arc themselves.
Pennington and Bailey Reardon (Fr., River Falls, Wis., Elementary Education) shared for the team lead with 12 points each. Pennington also assisted on four made baskets, while Reardon blocked a pair of shots.
Haley Mullinnix (Jr., West Branch, Iowa, Sports Management) just missed double figures with nine points, while Olivia Usher (Sr., Cedar Rapids, Iowa, Mathematics) was next with eight. Autumn Voigt (Sr., Clintonville, Wis., Business Management) and Kate Ylitalo (Sr., Maple Plain, Minn., Biology) contributed seven points apiece, and Brittany West (Jr., Shakopee, Minn., Sports Management) finished with five. Usher pulled down the most rebounds with seven, while Ylitalo recorded three steals.
“I am proud of the effort we played with after we got off to a very slow start,” Head Coach Steve Williamson said. “Our defense was very good and we made huge plays down the stretch. Our bench was absolutely awesome tonight as well.”
Next Up: William Penn returns to Oskaloosa Saturday to host Missouri Valley in Heart action at 2 p.m.
