Statesmen Turnovers Lead to 74-69 Loss at Valley City State
William Penn Women’s Athletics
Valley City, N.D.–The William Penn women’s basketball team was ahead for most of Saturday’s non-conference game, but a late push sunk the Statesmen in a 74-69 loss to Valley City State.
William Penn (3-4), which led by double digits on a few occasions in the second stanza, was outscored 26-14 in the final eight minutes of action. The team’s lack of ball control (27 turnovers) led to 29 Viking points.
The visitors scored the afternoon’s first points and never trailed before intermission, heading into the locker room still ahead at 34-28. Shooting was not an issue for the navy and gold as the team actually improved as the day wore on. WPU was better than VCSU in both the first half (35.7%-27.6%) and second half (46.2%-39.3%) to hold a final margin of 40.7%-33.3%.
The advantage ballooned to double figures (as high as 12 points) before Valley City State (2-3) finally made a run in front of its home fans.
Down five points at 69-64 with 56 seconds remaining, William Penn rallied with five consecutive free throws (21-for-26 overall) to knot the contest at 69-69 with 12 ticks left.
The back end of a two-shot foul that would have put the Statesmen ahead went offline. The Viking rebounder was unfortunately fouled after the play and made the first attempt at the other end. The second try was missed and Janay Pritchett (Jr., Cedar Rapids, Iowa, Biology & Sociology) came down with the rebound. She was called for traveling, however, giving the ball right back to VCSU.
The home side added two more free throws (31-for-39 FT overall) to make it 72-69, but the nail was put in the coffin with a final WPU turnover. The large number of turnovers could likely be linked back to the absence of starting point guard Susan Smith (Sr., Eugene, Ore., Biology) who was injured in Friday’s contest against Minnesota Crookston.
Pritchett topped all players with 23 points, highlighted by a 10-for-12 showing from the charity stripe. The junior also led her team with three assists.
Dani Stahle (Sr., South Weber, Utah, History/Government & Psychology) reached double digits as well with 13 points, while Katie Golomski (Jr., Milwaukee, Wis., Psychology & Sociology) added eight points. Jessie Kreuser (Jr., Mendota Heights, Minn., Physical Education) posted seven points in addition to squad bests in rebounds (8) and blocks (3).
The Statesmen outrebounded their hosts 41-34, outscoring them 11-7 in second-chance points.
Alyssa Phillips (Fr., Gurnee, Ill., Communications) managed six points as well.
“Our lack of valuing the basketball simply got us beat today,” Head Coach Mike Brown said. “We also did not handle late-game situations well at all, and that is on me.”
Next: William Penn travels to Sioux Falls, S.D. Tuesday to face NCAA Division II Augustana in a non-conference exhibition game play at 7 p.m.
