Statesmen Cruise After Halftime for Season Sweep of PSC
William Penn University Athletics
Peru, Neb.–The offense may have finally received the jumpstart it has desperately needed as the William Penn women’s basketball team defeated Peru State 78-51 in Heart of America Athletic Conference play Saturday.
Ahead just 41-35 at the break, the Statesmen (10-11, 7-7 Heart) dominated the second stanza on both ends to finish the season sweep of the Bobcats (5-17, 2-12 Heart).
For the second-consecutive contest, WPU was solid inside the arc, going 25-for-39 on two-point buckets (64.1%). Its long-range accuracy was still a weak spot, however, as it finished just 6-for-21 overall, but that is still five more made shots than it had Wednesday. The navy and gold improved at the line as well with a 10-for-15 effort.
Peru State scored the initial two points, but once the Statesmen took the lead, they only relinquished it one more time at 35-33. William Penn tallied the first eight points after intermission and pushed the advantage to 20 points by the end of the third quarter.
It only got better in the final period as WPU shot 55.6% in the latter half and ended the game with a 51.7%-29.5% edge. The shooting mark is the team’s second-best of the year and highest in league play.
A 46-24 rebounding mark was also recorded; the team’s lone struggle came in ball control with 19 turnovers (PSC had 19 as well though).
Seven Statesmen made at least half of their shots Saturday and three reached double figures. Alyssa Phillips (Jr., Gurnee, Ill., Communications) topped all participants with 20 points on 8-for-11 shooting.
Sabrina Avery (Fr., Riverside, Calif., Psychology and Sociology) came off the bench to contribute 12 points on 5-for-6 from the field, while Asia Roper (Jr., Aurora, Colo., Psychology) also got to double digits with 10 points. The junior assisted on five scores in the victory.
Destiny Spinner (Sr., Saginaw, Mich., Biology) finished with eight points, and Vashti Nwagbaraocha (Fr., Milwaukee, Wis., Exercise Science) scored seven points alongside nine rebounds. Jenna Santi (Fr., Oak Creek, Wis., Elementary Education) stole three passes.
“I told our team I will continue to be optimistic about how bad we are shooting from the perimeter and the line,” Head Coach Willie Scott said. “If we can just hit a few more, it would make a big difference and we did have a few more of each today. I was very pleased with our defensive effort the second half. We are making progress.”
Next Up: William Penn will return to Oskaloosa Wednesday to host Grand View in Heart play at 5:30 p.m.
