Statesmen Fail to Upset Clarke on Road
Dubuque–The William Penn women’s basketball team came up short of its first signature win of the year, falling 75-63 to #13 Clarke in Heart of America Athletic Conference play Saturday.
WPU (4-4, 4-3 Heart), which had its four-game winning streak snapped, outshot the Pride 46.3%-42.4%, but was outrebounded 43-28 (18-6 offensive). Also to the team’s detriment was CU’s perimeter game; the home team was 12-for-27 (44.4%), compared to a 4-for-13 (30.8%) performance for the Statesmen.
The preseason favorites in the Heart, Clarke (6-1, 4-1 Heart) scored the day’s first five points, but William Penn answered with 10 of the next 12 for its only lead. Down 14-12 after the opening period, the visiting crew tried to keep pace, and helped by a three-pointer by Brittany West (Sr., Shakopee, Minn., Sports Management) at the buzzer, the Statesmen were down just 32-26 at halftime.
Breanna Wendland (Jr., Richfield, Minn., Undecided) tallied her only two points of the game with a pair of free throws to start the third quarter. The conversions pulled WPU to within four, but unfortunately it would get no closer as the Pride dominated the quarter with a 33-18 advantage.
With all but the formalities remaining, the navy and gold did manage to end the game on a high note with the final 10 points, but it was much too little.
Lakyla Moore (Jr., Norfolk, Neb., Business Management) topped her team on both ends with 15 points and three steals. Bailey Reardon (So., River Falls, Wis., Elementary Education) joined her in double figures with 11 points, while West and Jakayla Kirk (Fr., Florissant, Mo., Sociology) each just missed the mark with nine each. West also corralled a team-high six rebounds.
Maci Kuchta (Fr., Columbia, Mo., Biology) contributed seven points, while Morgan Terry (Jr., Cornersville, Tenn., Biology) notched three late field goals for six points.
Wendland was the top distributor with five assists Saturday.
Despite committing one more turnover than its foe (13-12), William Penn actually outscored CU 5-2 in points off mistakes.
Only 22 combined fouls were called as WPU was 9-for-13 at the charity stripe and Clarke was 7-for-12.
“Unfortunately, we got outworked today,” Head Coach Steve Williamson said. “You will not beat anyone, especially a team like Clarke, when you allow 18 offensive rebounds. They simply played harder than us all game long.”
Next Up: William Penn travels to Cedar Rapids next Thursday to face Mount Mercy in Heart action at 5:30 p.m.
