Stellar First Quarter Leads WPU Past Eagles
William Penn University Athletics
by Wade Steinlage
Kansas City, Mo.–The Statesmen women’s basketball team sprinted out to a big lead and held off any and all challenges by its foe to claim a 72-58 Heart of America Athletic Conference win over Avila Saturday.
William Penn (15-5, 9-2 Heart) remains in a tie for the overall lead in the Heart (also three games up in the North Division) as it outshot the Eagles 43.1%-39.6%.
The navy and gold held down one of the hottest teams in the league; AU (6-9, 5-6 Heart) had won five in a row prior to a tight loss to #6 MidAmerica Nazarene Wednesday.
The visitors knocked the hosts off their game early with the day’s first five points. It only got better as the advantage grew to 13 points by quarter’s end at 20-7 with the Eagles being limited to 15.4% from the field in addition to four turnovers (WPU was at 44.4% and only one turnover).
The second period was WPU’s weakest, but even in that, Avila was only able to close to within nine once as the halftime score showed the Statesmen still up 36-26.
Although it never really ran away with it, William Penn was also never threatened as Avila was unable to get closer than nine points during the latter half.
In addition to their plus shooting, the navy and gold were also able to claim the road win because of ball control. WPU committed only eight turnovers, while claiming 16 takeaways which led to a 12-2 edge in points off turnovers for the victors.
It was a balanced attack for William Penn with eight different players scoring and five recording at least seven points. Sarah Hansen (Sr., Kewanee, Ill., Psychology and Human Services) connected on three of her squad’s eight three-pointers as she scored a team-high 19 points. The senior was one of three Statesmen with a pair of steals.
Kate Ylitalo (So., Maple Plain, Minn., Biology) also knocked down a trio of trifectas en route to her 14-point showing, while JeAnn Hiraldo (Sr., Frisco, Texas, Industrial Technology), who provided big minutes off the bench, tallied 12 points.
Vashti Nwagbaraocha (Jr., Milwaukee, Wis., Exercise Science) joined the double-digit club with 11 points, while also guiding WPU with eight rebounds and two blocked shots. The navy and gold overcame being outrebounded 29-27.
Tyra Johnson (Jr., Calumet City, Ill., Undecided) accounted for seven points in a non-starting role, while Jenna Santi (Jr., Oak Creek, Wis., Elementary Education) was superb in the distribution game with eight assists alongside four points.
William Penn also overcame finishing just 57.1% at the line.
“I thought we played 30 minutes of really good basketball,” Head Coach Steve Williamson said. “Our guards played very well and knocked down some big shots. We got great minutes from JeAnn off the bench today and that needs to continue as we are a bit short-handed at the moment.”
Next Up: William Penn travels to Cedar Rapids next Wednesday to face Mount Mercy in Heart action at 5:30 p.m.
