Statesmen Falter Late in Setback to Cottey
Nevada, Mo.–The William Penn women’s basketball team closed out its pre-holiday slate with a 68-63 loss to Cottey in non-conference action Saturday.
WPU (1-14) was outshot 45.1%-40.0%, but stayed in it by holding a 63.2%-56.0% edge at the free-throw line.
The Comets (6-10) tallied the first six points of the afternoon en route to a 19-12 advantage after 10 minutes of play.
CC’s margin grew to 10 on two occasions before the navy and gold bounced back, eventually getting as close as two before settling on a four-point deficit at halftime, 34-30. Emma Morts (Jr., Milford, Ill., Business Management) and Morgan Terry (Jr., Cornersville, Tenn., Biology) each managed six points in the period; Terry had nine points at the break.
The duo then accounted for eight of the squad’s first 12 points in a third quarter that saw the navy and gold offense catch fire with 21 points. WPU’s push resulted in a 51-45 lead entering the final stanza.
William Penn remained in control, up seven at 54-47 with 8:04 to go, but Cottey rallied with six straight and then tied the game on its next possession.
A bucket by Journie Augmon (Jr., Las Vegas, Nev., Human Services) gave the Statesmen the lead back at 58-56. Unfortunately, the Comets closed strong with five in a row and never trailed again.
Terry headlined WPU’s attack with 14 points, including an 8-for-10 performance at the line. Morts was next with 12 points, but more impressively had seven steals, a few of which turned into points for the navy and gold. The team finished with 12 steals and forced 17 overall turnovers (18 for WPU), which led to a 17-16 edge in points off mistakes.
Augmon managed nine points and six rebounds, while WPU was outrebounded 23-22. William Penn did, however, record a 6-4 margin in second-chance points.
Zantasia White (Jr., Lubbock, Texas, Secondary Education) scored eight points and the duo of Averie Benson (Sr., Amarillo, Texas, Education) and Joslyn Herbeck (So., Fond du Lac, Wis., Sports Management) contributed five points each. Alexis True (Jr., Frankfort, Ky., Exercise Science) dished out four assists Saturday.
Next Up: William Penn returns to action on Thursday, December 30, traveling to Orange City to face Northwestern in non-conference play at 6 p.m.
