Statesmen Unable to Slow SAU in Second Half
William Penn Women’s Athletics
Davenport–The William Penn women’s basketball team could not keep St. Ambrose from a huge second half in a 100-82 Midwest Collegiate Conference loss Saturday.
In a tale of two halves, the Statesmen (9-12, 2-3 MCC) led 48-44 at halftime on 52.8% shooting, but were outscored 56-34 after the break (the Bees hit 63.6% in the second stanza). Overall, WPU was outshot 55.6%-46.3%.
Despite the poor second period, the visitors trailed just 75-70 with 8:25 on the clock. Unfortunately, the Bees (11-7, 3-2 MCC) scored five straight and never led by fewer than eight again.
Janay Pritchett (Sr., Cedar Rapids, Iowa, Biology) did her best to get the navy and gold above the .500 mark in league action, tallying a career-high 34 points on 12-for-22 shooting. The senior, who had six three-pointers, is now just 13 points away from the 1,000-point mark for her career.
WPU struggled on the glass (44-32) and also had two more turnovers (19-17), but were actually more opportunistic with a 26-23 advantage in points off mistakes. Pritchett paced the defensive effort with four steals.
Vanessa Kieres (Sr., Chicago, Ill., Exercise Science) managed 15 points, while Jessie Kreuser (Sr., Mendota Heights, Minn., Physical Education) also joined double figures with 13 points.
The trio of Katie Golomski (Sr., Milwaukee, Wis., Psychology & Sociology), Alyssa Phillips (So., Gurnee, Ill., Communications), and Briana McRae (So., Racine, Wis., Undecided) all recorded six points. Golomski also pulled down seven rebounds and Destiny Spinner (Jr., Saginaw, Mich., Biology) dished out five assists.
“We challenged their guards to step up and make shots and they unfortunately did,” Head Coach Mike Brown said. “We were also not as sharp in the second half as in the first. We need to keep striving for 40 solid minutes of basketball.”
Next Up: William Penn returns to Oskaloosa Wednesday to host Clarke in MCC play at 5:30 p.m. The game will also serve as Coaches vs. Cancer Night.
