Streak Snapped on Road
William Penn University Athletics
by Wade Steinlage
Des Moines–The Statesmen women’s basketball team lost for the first time in over a month as it dropped a 58-50 Heart of America Athletic Conference matchup to Grand View Wednesday.
Despite suffering its first loss in nine games, William Penn (21-6, 15-3 Heart) is still in control of its destiny as it enters Saturday’s regular-season finale against #16 Central Methodist in Fayette, Mo. at 4 p.m. The Eagles own a one-game lead over WPU and have clinched a share of the Heart title, but a navy and gold victory will still secure a plethora of accomplishments, including a share of the crown as well as the top seed for next week’s postseason tournament. Most importantly, though, it will give William Penn the conference’s automatic bid to the NAIA Division I National Championships.
The visitors, who had not suffered a setback since January 20, were impressive in the first few minutes of action, leading 11-3 just 3:33 into the evening. The Statesmen continued to keep Grand View (20-9, 13-5 Heart) in the rearview with a 19-16 edge after one quarter of action, but the Vikings tallied the first 10 points of the second stanza to take their first lead.
GVU, which would not relinquish the advantage, led 32-25 at halftime. WPU got to within five in the third quarter at 38-33, but the hosts pushed the margin to double figures at 45-35 with one period to go. The Statesmen, who were led by a game-high 22 points from Kate Ylitalo (So., Maple Plain, Minn., Biology), stayed close, but could never trim the deficit below five points down the stretch.
Ylitalo was 8-for-13 from the field, including a 5-for-10 three-point effort, but unfortunately the rest of the navy and gold roster were limited offensively. The Statesmen shot just 29.8% overall, while Grand View ended the game at 37.7%. William Penn was actually better from deep (30.4%-25.9%), while finishing just a bit worse at the charity stripe (73.3%-69.2%).
Vashti Nwagbaraocha (Jr., Milwaukee, Wis., Exercise Science) reached double figures with 10 points, but six of those came on a perfect performance at the line.
Sarah Hansen (Sr., Kewanee, Ill., Psychology) added eight points, while Sham Troupe (Jr., St. Louis, Mo.) pulled down a contest-high 12 rebounds and Jenna Santi (Jr., Oak Creek, Wis., Sports Management) led all players with six assists.
Troupe’s efforts helped WPU to a commanding 46-31 rebounding edge (17-7 offensive, 11-5 second-chance points), but the visitors could not overcome their cold shooting as well as 19 turnovers (13 for GVU); the Statesmen were outscored 19-10 in points off mistakes.
The loss is William Penn’s first on the road in league play this season.
“I hope we use this loss to learn and improve on things,” Head Coach Steve Williamson said. “We need to get focused and come ready to play Saturday.”
