Statesmen Battle to End Against Defending National Champions

William Penn Women's Athletics

William Penn Women’s Athletics

Oskaloosa–The William Penn women’s basketball team gave the defending NAIA Division II national champions much more than they probably wanted or expected Friday, but unfortunately too many turnovers allowed Morningside to stave off the upset in a 94-82 non-conference matchup.

WPU (0-2) led 41-40 at halftime and was tied 62-62 after three 10-minute quarters, but the Mustangs (1-0) won their season opener with a 32-20 edge in the final period.

In a game that featured four ties and nine lead changes, the navy and gold exhibited no signs of being intimidated by pulling out to a 17-9 lead just 6:55 into the evening.

MC battled back to lead 23-19 after the first quarter, however, and extended the margin to 13 at 36-23. The Statesmen responded, though, going on an 18-4 run down the stretch to lead by one at intermission.

The visitors appeared ready to pull away in the third quarter, but again a late-quarter run (10-4) got William Penn back into it entering the final 10 minutes of action.

Unfortunately, the Mustangs opened the final stanza on an 11-2 run and WPU could never get closer than four points again.

In the end, 32 Statesmen turnovers were way too much to overcome (WPU did manage 18 takeaways). The mistakes led to a 31-15 edge in points off turnovers for Morningside.

When the hosts were able to hold onto the ball, they shot extremely well; in fact outshooting MC 53.4%-46.2%. The Statesmen did well behind the arc (10-23, 43.5%) and at the line (10-13, 76.9%).

William Penn almost also took the rebounding battle, falling 36-35 in that category; Sabrina Avery (Fr., Riverside, Calif., Sociology) was the top rebounder with seven.

Six different players knocked down at least half of their field-goal tries, highlighted by Alyssa Phillips (Jr., Gurnee, Ill., Communications) finishing 5-for-6. The junior had 12 points and was one of five individuals in double figures for William Penn.

For the second night in a row, Kadejah Young (Sr., Minneapolis, Minn., Physical Education) topped her team in scoring with 21 points, while also assisting on six buckets.

Paced by five three-pointers, Sabrina Avery (Fr., Riverside, Calif., Sociology) was next with 19 points, while Vashti Nwagbaraocha (Fr., Milwaukee, Wis.) and Destiny Spinner (Sr., Saginaw, Mich., Biology) both tallied 11 points. Nwagbaraocha also posted three steals.

“I am so proud of our team; they played their hearts out,” New Head Coach Willie Scott said. “We obviously have to protect the ball better and not allow teams to get second-chance points. Overall though, I am really excited about coaching this team and seeing what we can accomplish this season.”

Next Up: William Penn will travel to Clinton next Saturday to face Ashford in non-conference play at 2 p.m.

Posted by on Oct 30 2015. Filed under College Sports. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.

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