Stewart’s Seven Three-Pointers Push WPU Past Park
Parkville, Mo.–With one of its top players held scoreless, the William Penn women’s basketball team found other ways to get the job done, dropping Park 66-57 in Heart of America Athletic Conference play Wednesday.
The Statesmen (4-23, 4-12 Heart) snapped their three-game losing streak, albeit without getting any offensive contributions from Morgan Terry (Jr., Cornersville, Tenn., Biology), who had been scoring at will in recent weeks. Saddled with foul trouble early, Terry could not get going and finished with zero points.
The void left was large, but Ally Stewart (Jr., Victoria, Australia, Physical Education) managed to fill it and then some with a team-best 23 points. She knocked down seven three-pointers, including hitting all three of her attempts in the first quarter as the visitors pulled out to a 22-11 advantage after 10 minutes on the court. Stewart managed 11 points in the opening period.
WPU, which held a 45.8%-35.8% shooting advantage, was on fire from the perimeter, finishing 13-for-26 overall. Stewart began the second quarter with another trifecta, and while the Statesmen were slowed to just 16 points, they still headed into the locker room with a double-digit lead at 38-26.
The Pirates (8-14, 2-14 Heart) unfortunately managed the first five points after intermission to get within seven. Nearly three minutes passed before Amanee Clark (So., Waterloo, Iowa, Human Services) finally broke her team’s scoreless streak with a three-pointer. Another mini 4-0 spurt by Park would close the margin to eight a few minutes later, but the navy and gold slammed the proverbial door shut then and there.
The Statesmen did not permit another Pirate point the rest of the third stanza, a span of 4:19, and then kept the hosts off the scoreboard for an additional 2:53. During that seven-plus minute period, WPU stretched its eight-point edge to that of 19 points at 56-37 and cruised down the stretch for the victory.
The Pirates did come within eight at the 2:03 mark, but the visitors closed with six straight free throws in the final 41 seconds of regulation to seal the contest. Overall, WPU was 9-for-14 from the charity stripe.
Both teams tallied 33 rebounds, but the Statesmen gave the Pirates several more looks at the basket by losing the offensive boards battle 16-8. That led to a 13-8 deficit in second-chance points. The Pirates also stayed somewhat close due to ball control issues as William Penn committed 16 turnovers (11 for PU), which resulted in an 18-11 edge in points off mistakes for Park.
Zantasia White (Jr., Lubbock, Texas, Secondary Education), with 13 points, and Clark, with 11 points, also joined Stewart in double digits; both players were 3-for-5 from deep.
Alexis True (Fr., Frankfort, Ky., Exercise Science) posted seven points with five assists, while Emma Morts (Jr., Milford, Ill., Business Management) and Journie Augmon (Jr., Las Vegas, Nev., Human Services) both contributed six points. Morts was also the team’s rebounding guru with 11 Wednesday.
“This was an all-around team win,” Head Coach Jenna Santi said. “The ladies battled on both ends of the court and that is all a coach can ask. We had many different players step up their roles, which was awesome to see.”
Next Up: William Penn returns to Oskaloosa Saturday to host Graceland in Heart action at 2 p.m.
