Statesmen Suffer Cold Night in Loss to Pride

Dubuque–The William Penn women’s basketball team struggled on the offensive end as it fell 78-58 to Clarke in a Heart of America Athletic Conference matchup Monday.

WPU (3-20, 2-17 Heart) was outshot 46.8%-27.6% and lost the rebounding battle 48-30, but countered that by going 19-for-24 at the free-throw line (79.2%).

The visitors were slow out of the gate as CU (10-12, 8-10 Heart) tallied the first 10 points of the night. The rest of the opening quarter unfortunately did not go much better as the navy and gold trailed 23-5 by the end of the first stanza.

William Penn finally caught traction, outscoring the Pride 18-17 in the second period. The remainder of the night, however, did not go well for the Statesmen as they failed to mount a comeback on the road.

In addition to its competency at the charity stripe, WPU was also strong in ball control, committing just eight turnovers (13 for Clarke), which resulted in a 15-3 edge in points off mistakes.

Aysia Arrowood (Sr., Wichita, Kan., Sports Management) had another impressive outing, scoring a game-high 21 points on 7-for-15 shooting; the senior made four of her eight three-pointers and connected on all three of her free throws.

Jaida Smith (Sr., Milwaukee, Wis., Business Management) finished with 17 points in addition to three steals, while Carley West (Jr., Saint Paul, Minn., Human Services) managed a double-double with 13 points and 11 rebounds. West recorded two assists, two steals, and one block as well.

“We had a slow start on both ends, which was the difference in the game,” Interim Head Coach Sheawn Bedford said. “We won the second and fourth quarters, so that is something we can build upon for our next opponent.”

Next Up: William Penn travels to Olathe, Kan. Saturday to face MidAmerica Nazarene in Heart play at 2 p.m.